The Daily Dispatch

A timely matter continues to present itself to the North Dakota State College of Science campus. Many campuses in the state of North Dakota as well as several state universities in Minnesota have gone smoke-free or tobacco-free. Jason Bergstrand, tobacco prevention coordinator at the Richland County Health Department, presented a slideshow on campus Wednesday on the benefits of having a smoke-free or tobacco-free campus.

North Dakota campuses that have gone smoke-free include Minot State University, and campuses that have gone tobacco-free include University of North Dakota, Bismarck State College, Jamestown College and Valley City University.

As released by a North Dakota Core Survey, 29.5 percent of current NDSCS students are smokers while the rate for all other campuses in the state is 16.6 percent.

Tobacco use is also the No. 1 preventable cause of death and disability in the United States. More than 430,000 die annually.

"Secondhand smoke is equally dangerous," Bergstrand said.

Bergstrand emphasized that tobacco's impact on health outweighs those of alcohol, motor vehicle accidents, homicides, HIV and suicide. The number of people who die annually because of those issues combined don't equal the deaths caused by tobacco use each year.

"Although the consequences may not be as immediate as drunk driving, it's a significant issue," Bergstrand said.

The benefits of the NDSCS campus moving to a tobacco-free campus are wide spread and would affect the whole campus if the choice was made to adopt a tobacco-free policy.

"Should we do it because everyone else is doing it? Probably not," Bergstand said. "Should we do it because it's the right thing to do? Yes."

Bergstrand said more often than not, in driving by campus, students or others are standing outside smoking and "it doesn't reflect very well on the community as a whole," he said. Benefits of going to a tobacco-free campus include a cleaner and healthier campus, an improved social and community reputation and "I'm almost positive you'll see a less burden to your student health service," Bergstrand said.

In addition, the campus would more then likely see improved student health with increased class attendance and better academic comprehension by the students.

Also, because many employers are seeking workers who don't smoke, a campus that promotes no smoking would ultimately provide more marketable students to enter the workforce.

Going to a tobacco-free campus would also benefit NDSCS because it would decrease the initiation to tobacco use and most likely decrease tobacco consumption because it wouldn't be allowed anywhere on the campus.

The last of the benefits Bergstrand included, although there may be many more, was a no tobacco use policy would cause less exposure to secondhand smoke.

The idea of a tobacco-free campus continues to present itself but NDSCS has yet to officially adopt a policy.

"I think your administration is in favor of moving to a smoke-free campus, but they'd like to see it come from underneath," Bergstrand said. If it would happen, Bergstrand said the NDSCS administration would like to see students or faculty present the issue.

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