The Quad: UCLA’s tobacco-free policy enforcement, broken down

UCLA has been a smoke-free campus ever since UCLA started the Tobacco-Free Initiative in April 2013. Then-president of the University of California system Mark Yudof began the initiative, resulting in tobacco-free campuses systemwide.

Despite the tobacco-free policy, I have seen people vaping near Young Hall and Bruin Walk. The policy is not being enforced as people are seen smoking all around campus despite the signs that read “UCLA is a tobacco-free campus.”

Dang Nai, a second-year physics student who is currently working as a safety patrol officer, has seen people smoking in various locations around campus, but especially in the stairwells of residential buildings and Parking Structure DD, the parking lot behind Dykstra Hall.

The negative health consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke are well-known and were the main motivation for the enactment of the smoking ban. Smoking not only harms the smoker, but can adversely affect people around them. Continued exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer.

Besides the negative health effects, tobacco use on campus contributes to environmental pollution, as cigarette litter has been found in several campus locations such as Boelter Hall and Bunche Hall. The fact that there are well-known smoking spots and cigarette litter sightings suggests that enforcement of the smoking ban is lax.

When Nai patrols the campus on the job, students found smoking either put out their cigarettes or flee the scene. This isn’t a surprise. UCLA physician Michael Ong, who is also the current chair of the Tobacco-Free Initiative and leader of the BreatheWell pod, said that smoking on campus is a violation of the Student Conduct Code. Violations of the conduct code can lead to the expulsion of students and termination of staff members if multiple episodes of violation have been reported.

“The goal is to keep everybody as healthy as possible,” said Ong. “The goal is not to penalize smokers.”

UCLA’s tobacco-free policy is not intended to be punitive to those who smoke, but is meant to prevent the negative health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke. Ong said that UCLA is taking an educational approach in creating a smoke-free environment, even though it may not be the fastest solution to making UCLA a completely tobacco-free campus.

Even though some people still violate the policy, according to Ong, cigarette litter on campus has decreased since the ban was put into place. Additionally, there has been a noticeable drop in tobacco use across the UC system according to information provided by Kaiser Permanente, one of the biggest insurers for UC community members.

“Part of this tobacco policy working comes down to people actually saying something,” said Ong.

A huge part in the success of this campaign lies in the hands of the UCLA community. Students, employees and faculty need to take the initiative to tell people to stop smoking whenever they encounter someone smoking on campus.

Ong said that a policy ambassador group is being implemented this quarter by the Tobacco-Free Initiative in order to work towards making UCLA a tobacco-free campus. Members of this student policy ambassador group will politely approach smokers and tell them about the tobacco-free policy.

While the UCPD does have the authority to enforce the tobacco-free policy, Ong said that the UCPD has more urgent matters to attend to and people cannot expect the UCPD to be responsible for everything. Furthermore, Ong believes that positive role models are important and by working together as a community, the campaign will turn out to be more successful than it is now.

Since the UCPD gives out tickets to those who jaywalk at the De Neve crosswalk, they can also give out tickets to those who disobey the policy. In my opinion, tobacco use on campus affects community members more than jaywalking does and so the UCPD needs to take action to put a stop to this.