By A new campaign implemented by the Cal State Long Beach Tobacco and Smoke Free Task Force is aiming to give CSULB students a healthier campus environment.
The Breathe Campaign will officially launch in the Fall 2016 semester, but President Jane Close Conoley has already informed the campus and is raising awareness on the CSULB website and Beachboard.
Enforcement of the policy will not take place all at once, according to Mike Uhlenkamp, executive director of media and digital news and the university spokesman on the matter.
“To allow an appropriate time for people to come into compliance with the new policy, enforcement will be phased in,” Uhlenkamp said. “After the three-year ‘phasing-in-period,’ under state law, public colleges and universities may fine violators an amount not to exceed $100.”
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According to the CSULB Tobacco and Smoke Free Policy Proposal, the budget for the new policy implementation plan, which the student body overwhelmingly voted in favor of in 2014, will be $118,850 and the policy will go into effect Sept. 1.
“The goal of the campaign is to educate The Beach community about this change in campus policy,” Uhlenkamp said. “There will be collateral such as signage, and handouts and other materials will be posted around campus to inform the community about the new tobacco and smoke free policy.”
The signs and materials will all be covered by the funding provided from internal university sources, according to Uhlenkamp.
“I don’t know where that money is coming from, but I think it’s a good idea,” Kurumi Ando, a communications major, said.
She also thinks the new ban would encourage smokers to quit if they were not exposed to smoke. “If I’m around my friends and they’re smoking I’ll be like ‘Can I get one?’”
Ando thinks the ban is a good idea even as a smoker. “I stopped smoking [cigarettes] and started to vape, it’s expensive but it’s helped me to stop smoking.”
Under the new policy, vaping on campus would also be prohibited.
Victor Chhay, creative writing major, voted against the new policy of a completely smoke-free campus.
“I was a little upset when it came into action but I understand it, they want a cleaner campus, I don’t mind that, but you know school is just so stressful,” Chhay said. “Like sometimes you just need a cigarette, and I don’t mind if they take a few of the designated areas away but I just want one or two designated areas for smokers.”
The Breathe Campaign was initiated in response to the 2013 student body vote on a referendum to ban smoking on campus. According to the Breathe Campaign website more than half — 65 percent — of students who voted back in 2013 opted to ban smoking on campus.
