Breathe easy

Leave the Pack Behind students Shaylyn Streatch (team leader), Sophie Murphy, Catherine Higham and Amanda Dillon chat with President Tom Traves (Pearce photo).

ItÕs easy not to smoke at Dalhousie. ThatÕs the message greeting new and returning students this month as the University launches a renewed no smoking and scent free campaign.

ÒWe want to let new students know, and remind returning students, that thereÕs no smoking on any Dalhousie property Ð inside buildings or even outside on University property,” says Bill Louch, Director of Environmental Health and Safety.

ÒDalhousie is a leader when it comes to creating both smoke free and scent free environments,” says Dr. Louch. ÒThose are major accomplishments and we need to safeguard the progress we have made. ItÕs substantial.”

In 2003, Dalhousie became the first university in Canada to prohibit smoking on all university-owned property. It is also a leader among organizations that encourage a scent free environment. Students, faculty, staff and visitors are asked to avoid wearing scented products that make people with asthma, allergies and other conditions sick. 

The renewed campaign is funded by the Office of the Vice-President, Student Services. It includes posters, advertisements and emails. A group of Dalhousie students, part of the Leave the Pack Behind smoking reduction and cessation program, also are handing out cards n front of locations that are known to attract smokers Ð for example, the Killam Library and the Student Union Building on Studley Campus. Sexton Campus is also being canvassed.

The cards inform students that Dalhousie has a no smoking policy and that there is help for student smokers. The Leave the Pack Behind Program is aimed at helping students cease, or reduce, smoking. On the flip side of the cards is a map, showing the No Smoking Areas. Each of the three campuses has its own card.

Derrick Enslow, Health Educator at Dalhousie Health Services, says the response to the students handing out the cards has been positive. ÒMost people have thanked us for letting them know where they can and cannot smoke,” says Enslow. ÒSmokers that we thank for not smoking on Dal property are very appreciative.”

Anyone wanting more information about Leave the Pack Behind can go to www.leavethepackbehind.org or send an email to peerhealth@dal.ca

More information about DalhousieÕs no smoking policy can be found at www.dal.ca/smokefree and about its scent free initiative at: http://environmentalhealthandsafetyoffice.dal.ca and go to the scent free section.