Did you know that tobacco use is the single largest preventable cause of disease and death in the United States? The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says that tobacco use causes over 440,000 deaths in the United States each year; that's more deaths than those from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and firearm-related injuries combined.

Did you also know that secondhand smoke is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A Carcinogen, just like asbestos? Or that, according to the CDC, it causes thousands of deaths each year, in healthy non-smokers, from lung cancer and heart disease?
The CDC also says that there is no risk-free exposure to secondhand smoke; even a brief exposure can be harmful to health, and nonsmokers who breathe secondhand smoke are breathing in the same carcinogens that smokers are. At least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic.

Those are some pretty significant statistics, and I think it is critical that Brandeis respond with a change in its current policy regarding smoking on campus. After reading about e-cigarettes in the Justice Forum on Jan. 14, "To Combat New E-Cigarettes, Inform Public About Smoking Facts," I thought it was important for the Brandeis student body to know what Colleges Against Cancer is working on. 

Some of you may have heard about our Smoke(less) Initiative. CAC is pushing forward a policy change that would create designated smoking areas on the Brandeis campus, in place of the current rule allowing smoking anywhere 30 feet from a building. 

Last spring, CAC sent out a survey on the current smoking policy, and suggested making a change; 1,006 undergraduates responded, and 73 percent said that they supported prohibiting smoking on campus, with the exception of designated smoking areas. The specifics of these designated smoking areas, including location and structure, will ultimately be up to the administration and feedback from students. CAC hopes that over time, given the data from organizations such as the CDC, Brandeis will transition to a completely smoke-free campus. This is the only way to truly eliminate secondhand smoke.
The 30-feet policy is simply ineffective. It was brought into being by the hard work of a since-graduated CAC member, and while it was definitely a step forward for the campus, we realize now that it needs to be updated. The rule fails to protect non-smokers from secondhand smoke; for example, even if a smoker is standing 30 feet from a doorway, someone who wishes to enter the building often has to pass through a cloud of smoke to do so. One can imagine other problematic situations as well, such a walking behind a smoker on a path to class. In each situation, the concern stems from the fact the secondhand smoke is a public health hazard; we wish to eliminate this harmful exposure.

CAC, as an American Cancer Society organization, strongly supports quitting smoking. There are multiple resources on campus to help and we encourage smokers to take advantage of them. The Golding Health Center already has programs in place through Lauren Grover, the alcohol and other drug counselor, and as the Smoke(less) Initiative moves forward, CAC is planning on working closer to help develop even more resources. 

For the past two years at the Great American Smoke Out, we worked in conjunction with Diana Denning, nurse practitioner at the Health Center, to provide information and resources for smokers interested in quitting. Again, we encourage smokers to use these resources, and if this new policy is enacted, CAC will work closely with the Health Center to develop even more programs.

There are currently 1,182 colleges in the United States that are completely smoke-free. We have researched some of the local colleges, like Northeastern University, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Cape Cod Community College, Westfield State University and Bridgewater State University; all seem to rely on community enforcement of their policy. Essentially, this means that students are encouraged to enforce the policy themselves, either through words or through reporting offenders via an established email system. The same holds for faculty and staff. 

These colleges also have specific committees that oversee compliance and discipline for repeated offenders. Many of them have just enacted their new smoke-free policies, and as such, CAC will be contacting them to monitor their successes and hopefully gain some valuable feedback, insights that will make for a smoother Brandeis transition to a smoke-free campus. 

This isn't just a trend in the United States, either; it is becoming an international one. With smoking and secondhand smoke clearly linked to disease and poor health, even nations with a large smoking culture, such as China, are seeing this connection and banning smoking indoors. Many countries, including Australia, Canada, Singapore and Thailand, now also have smoke-free outdoor areas. 

Brandeis has always prided itself in being on the forefront of new ideas; it is time to join this global campaign. I believe that, given the clear health concerns demonstrated by secondhand smoke (noted by the CCD, American Cancer Society and other organizations), the overall goal for Brandeis should be to become a completely smoke-free campus: CAC is proposing that we take a step towards this goal by transitioning into designated smoking areas, as the undergraduate population seems to support. 

It's time for us to move forward and create a healthier campus environment, one that reduces (and eventually eliminates) secondhand smoke. CAC has approached the Brandeis Student Union about this issue, but they have failed to vote on it. Please contact your senators and other campus representatives and tell them how you feel about this new smoke-free trend both in the United States and worldwide, especially how it should apply to Brandeis.

-Editor's Note: Elizabeth Allen '14 is the president of Brandeis University's chapter of Colleges Against Cancer.