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By now, smokers on campus should be used to walking 20 feet away from a building before lighting up. But now smokers who want to purchase tobacco will have to walk a little bit farther: Off campus, to be specific.
The office of Substance Abuse Prevention Services has put a proposal into effect, banning the sale of tobacco products at the University Bookstore. The Bookstore was previously the only outlet on campus for smokers to purchase tobacco.
In a letter to Bookstore director Bill Hockensmith, dated July 20 of this year, Lauri Sidelko, director of Substance Abuse Prevention Services, asked the Bookstore to review the proposal “Tobacco Free Bookstore” for consideration of implementing it before the upcoming school year.
Gustavo Burkett, graduate assistant for Substance Abuse Prevention Services, says implementing the policy was relatively easy and necessary for a number of reasons.
“There are a bunch of policies about smoking here, but on the other hand, we’re telling students ‘we’ll sell you tobacco’ so there was some contradiction there,” Burkett said. “Limiting availability is one of the strategies for environmental management.”
A University of Maine CORE survey in October of last year found that the smoking rate of undergraduate students increased by three percent to 35.6 percent from 2001 to 2003, outpacing the national average of 25.7 percent.
Burkett said after looking at those numbers, the thought in his office was “we need to do something” and action was taken.
“The whole college experience across the nation is changing to offer a more healthy environment for everyone,” Burkett said. “We’ve been working very closely with the American Cancer Society and the Healthy Maine Partnership to bring tobacco awareness to campus.”
The proposal, which Burkett co-authored and adapted, states that the sale of tobacco products on campus adversely affects the health of the campus community for a number of reasons, including conflicting with the mission of Substance Abuse Prevention Services and undermining the work of Cutler Heath Center.
This latest move to curb tobacco use on campus comes on the heels of an initiative that also went into effect on campus this year banning smoking in all residence halls.
These initiatives, along with other awareness programs, make UMaine a candidate for recognition by the Maine Tobacco Free College Network. UMaine will be given a certification to the program during the Great American Smoke Out in November.
Bookstore staff members applaud Burkett and his office for their efforts, but still feel like they may be taking away a convenience to students.
“The Bookstore has always sold cigarettes, essentially as a service to the students who want cigarettes on campus,” Hockensmith said. “I think it takes away that convenience.”
Colleen Gagnon, floor supervisor at the Bookstore, says a few students have come in requesting cigarettes and have been surprised and annoyed when they have been told they now have go off campus to make their purchase.
“I think they got used to it. They’d come in and they were there,” she said.
Cigarettes were not a significant source of revenue at the Bookstore, according to Gagnon, because they were not allowed to be displayed or advertised. Hockensmith said that even though the Bookstore was not demanded or ordered to stop selling tobacco products, they felt like they were pressured to.
“We felt like we were obligated … like we were forced to comply with the request,” he said.
“I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a libertarian, but I respect the intentions of the Substance Abuse Prevention program,” Hockensmith said. “Their point was that the university is concerned about the wellness of our students and selling cigarettes is a contradiction. It sends a mixed message.”
Bangor Daily News