Smoke Free Campus Proposal

WHEREAS the UNM Board of Regents has requested constituent input concerning the use of tobacco on the UNM campus, and

WHEREAS the deleterious effects of the use of tobacco are well known, and

WHEREAS the United States Surgeon General has reported that no amount of second-hand smoke is safe for non-tobacco users, and

WHEREAS the University of New Mexico Hospital is moving to a smoke free environment and the UNM Health Sciences Center is considering such a policy, and

WHEREAS the existing campus smoking policy which requires that there be no smoking within buildings or a “reasonable distance away from doorways, open windows, enclosed walkways, and ventilation systems” of buildings is inconsistently enforced, and

WHEREAS the employment of different policies in different areas of the campus and hospital can only create confusion and make fair enforcement of such policies difficult, and

WHEREAS the existing campus smoking policy, 2250, already states, “the campus community is asked to go smoke-free as soon as possible, but no later than three (3) months after the effective date reflected above,” which date is 1 June 1997, and which has heretofore never been seriously considered,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Staff Council recommends to the UNM Board of Regents a campus-wide tobacco-free policy to include both smoking and the use of non-smoking tobacco, provided that the implementation of such a policy includes sufficient time to educate both the campus and visitors, and provided further that sufficient time and helps are provided to assist tobacco users to curtail or quit their use of tobacco.

Copies of this resolution shall be sent to the Board of Regents and to Interim President David Harris.