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Changes in the residence halls and University Bookstore are just some of the reasons that the University of Maine has been recognized by the Tobacco-Free Maine Foundation. The foundation honored UMaine with an award for being a collegiate leader in promoting tobacco-free lives on Thursday.
“This is really about saving lives,” said Kip Deserres, the head of the Tobacco-Free Maine Foundation. “Recently, I have lost a couple of my college friends based on tobacco related deaths. Prevention is the only way to stop deaths like this from happening, and UMaine is making significant changes to their policies to prevent smoking.”
The Tobacco-Free Foundation is a part of the Healthy Maine Partnerships that works with the Maine Department of Human Services and the American Cancer Society to educate children about the risks of smoking and what the use of other stimulants do to their health.
The award was presented on the day of the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, which is designed to help people quit by seeing if they can go 24 hours without the use of tobacco.
In the past UMaine had smoking halls on campus where people could smoke in their rooms, but that policy has recently changed to make all on-campus buildings smoke free. The UMaine has also stopped the sale of tobacco products at the bookstore to deter college students from smoking by forcing them to get tobacco products elsewhere.
“Early in my career, I said smoking in the great state of Maine is an epidemic and if we did not do something, the health, prosperity and the future potential of young people is at risk,” said Dean of Students Robert Dana. “3,000 people die per year in the state of Maine from tobacco-related deaths.”
The university is not only trying to limit its current students smoking habits but also the future students of UMaine by bringing information to high schools statewide. Because the majority of students at UMaine are from Maine, the idea is to show potential students that smoking isn’t the answer. It is the administration’s hope that in the years to come the problem of smoking will be over.
“We go to high schools, and we talk to people in high schools to show them how smoking is not the way to go,” said Gustavo Burkett, the graduate assistant for substance abuse prevention. “High school and even elementary students look up to college kids. It is a lot different hearing it from college kids rather than their parents they are more likely to listen to us than the parents.”
The tobacco-free foundation continued to stress the fact that the majority of smokers actually wish they had never started in the first place. UMaine is planning to continue its push against smoking and is looking for even more ways to get the “never start smoking” message to more and more people and continue its job as Maine’s leader in educating young people about the effects of using tobacco.
