Smoke‑free campus campaign kicks off

Starting Monday, Dalhousie University students, staff and faculty will be reminded of Dal’s smoke-free campus by a renewed campaign that will involve more visible signage, campus maps showing the smoke-free zones, and table tents in residence buildings. 

Back in 2003, Dalhousie became the first Canadian university to go completely smoke-free on university property. Since that time most have respected the new rules but there has been the occasional backslide.

“Partly as a function of large new groups of students joining the Dal community every year, our need to educate people about the rules is ongoing,” says Mike Burns, Dalhousie’s head of security. “We sometimes see people lighting up in areas of the campus where smoking is prohibited but we know these are often cases of folks not knowing where they are allowed to smoke. We need to continually remind people here about where smoking is and isn't permitted.”

The current policy states that there is no smoking on Dalhousie property, including parking areas and near doorways.

“It's a matter of health and safety for the entire Dal community,” says Derrick Enslow, health promotion program manager for Live Well @ Dal. “When we surveyed the population of Dalhousie before we implemented this policy there was overwhelming support for making this a smoke-free place.”

As a way to ensure everyone is aware of the policy, the message will be loud and clear as Dal staff, faculty, and students will see materials that “thank” everyone for respecting the rules and their fellow Dalhousians.

“We're not trying to be aggressive in our approach,” adds Mr. Burns. “We want to be positive and appreciative of folks' efforts to do their part. We've always depended on the support of the community here to make this policy a success and it's only with continued support that we will make it even more so.”

New permanent signage will be an ongoing reminder, and other efforts including student-focused messaging, security officers distributing information on where people can and cannot smoke, and yearly reminders will help ensure that the message stays current and inclusive of everyone, including those new to Dalhousie.

Ready to quit?

For staff, Employee and Organizational Development, a function out of Human Resources is offering a one-day seminar that will discuss general facts about smoking and the myths about smoking cessation as well as looking at the challenges associated with quitting and strategies to overcome them.

“We acknowledge the struggle it can be to stop smoking and understand that it can take many attempts,” says Janice MacInnis, coordinator of organizational health at Dalhousie. “We commend anyone willing to try and, if necessary, try again.”

The seminar takes place November 3 from 12:15 – 1:15 in the McCain Building, Room 1170

For students, Live Well @ Dal offers ‘Quit Smoking’ information sessions run by student volunteers and Live Well @ Dal health promotion program manager Derrick Enslow. The weekly sessions take place in the new Live Well office in Dalplex and welcome any student looking to quit. For more information, contact livewell@dal.ca