Clean Air De Anza (CADA), a campus student organization, teamed up with the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition for Health Against Tobacco (API-CHAT) to distribute information to the De Anza campus community about the benefits of a 100% smoke-free campus.
Students and advocates discussed the policy on Thursday outside the cafeteria at the Hinson Campus Center.
API-CHAT Project Director Rosalyn Moya said that a 100% smoke-free campus means that there are zero smoking areas, not to be confused with “designated smoking areas” which may still expose students to toxic chemicals. Currently, De Anza College allows smoking in designated parking lots.
The college does not currently allow the use of marijuana or cannabis products on campus.
Moya said the group aims to educate the college community about the benefits of the smoke-free policy which Moya said many California community colleges, all UCs, and all state colleges have already adopted. If De Anza were to adopt a similar policy, the group wants the college to change their “no smoking” signs to read “100% smoke-free campus” to send a clear message to the community. Under the policy “smoke” includes cigarette smoke as well as vaping aerosols.
While the effort has not received much opposition, Moya said it’s important to clarify that the policies would not require anyone to quit smoking, just that folks wait to smoke until they leave campus.