"A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygain smoke of the pit that is bottomless."

~James I 1566 - 1625: A Counterblast to Tobacco (1604)

Beginning in the fall, smoking will be banned in all residence halls on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The UNC Residence Hall Association proposed the ban, based on a survey of students who live on campus at the University.

UNC-CH students who want to smoke in their dormitory rooms will have to submit written requests to have one of a few designated smoking rooms on the ground floors of two South Campus dorms.

This move comes only a few months after the NC General Assembly passed a law allowing the University of North Carolina system to be exempted from the state law requiring smoking areas in state controlled buildings.

Since this law passed, Annie Butzen of the EnTER Program (Environmental tobacco smoke: Training, Education and Research) has convened a new coalition that is working to make universities offer smoke-free environments to students.

This informal group, which includes representatives from several universities in the 16-campus University of North Carolina system, has decided to begin by 1) concentrating on university-system campuses and 2) seeking funding to collect data on tobacco policies at all colleges and universities – state supported and private.

This will begin a formal effort to go after more smoke-free dorm policies system-wide.

“Eighteen to 24 is the one age segment whose tobacco use is increasing,” said Ann Houston, director of public education and secondhand smoke interventions for the NC Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch. “Increasing smokefree dorms changes the normative patterns on campus; it both prevents tobacco use initiation and help tobacco users who want to quit.”

“According to a 2001 Harvard study, students who come to college as nonsmokers are 40% less likely to start smoking if they live in smoke-free dorms than students who live in smoky dorms,” said Butzen. “Implementing smoke-free policies in college dormitories is a particularly effective strategy to help keep college students from ever starting to smoke and to help students who do smoke quit. While there are many effective policies to consider on campus in terms of tobacco use, smokefree dorms and helping smokers quit is our correct focus in North Carolina,” Butzen said. She explained that Bacchus & Gamma, the health education honorary fraternal organization, has developed educational materials for college campuses, aimed at reduced the growing tide of college-aged students using tobacco. See the Bacchus and Gamma's smoke-free colleges website: http://www.TobaccoFreeU.org/

If you are interested in working towards smoke-free college residence halls, contact Annie Butzen at (919) 843-8615 or ayb@med.unc.edu.

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New On-Line Resource for Workplace Cessation Professional Assisted Cessation Therapy (PACT) is an independent consortium of leaders in the treatment of tobacco dependence that has developed a very useful and informative resource to assist with tobacco cessation in the workplace. The Employers' Smoking Cessation Guide: Practical Approaches to a Costly Workplace Problem is a thorough and well organized tool to aid employers in creating a smoke-free workplace in an affordable and effective manner. The guide discusses the financial and health costs of smoking, the benefits of having a smoke-free workplace, gives practical advice as to how to promote cessation in the workforce and in employees' families, and gives examples of policies and ideas to help develop a cessation initiative. The PACT website, www.endsmoking.org, also highlights another publication, Reimbursement for Smoking Cessation Therapy, and has links to cessation resources, organizations, and smoking-related headlines.

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Tobacco Use Prevention Youth Leadership Institute The Youth Leadership Institute, held March 12 through 14, was a great success. Teams of youth and adults came from across the state to participate in the highly energetic, interactive leadership training. Participants attended general session and four-hour courses during which they worked to create youth-driven, adult-supported tobacco use prevention work plans. Look for upcoming news about the Institute.

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Tobacco Free Schools Update

The N.C. 100% Tobacco Free Schools Program is pleased to announce that three new school districts have adopted 100% tobacco free school policies. These are Cherokee, Lee and Clay. This brings the total number of school districts that have adopted the “gold standard” policy to 34 - or 29.6% of N.C.'s 115 school districts. Nearly 500,000 N.C. students - 38.5% -- now attend a school district that prohibits all tobacco use, at all times.

The tobacco free school districts are as follows: Asheboro City, Asheville City, Bertie, Caldwell, Carteret, Chapel Hill/Carrboro, Charlotte-Mecklenberg, Chatham, Cherokee, Clay, Craven, Cumberland, Durham, Edenton-Chowan, Gaston, Gates, Guilford, Henderson, Hertford, Hickory City, Iredell-Stateville, Jones, Kannapolis City, Lee, New Hanover, Onslow, Orange, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Polk, Rowan-Salisbury and Thomasville City.

For more information on the Tobacco Free Schools Program - or if you are interested in advancing this policy in your school district - please contact Suzanne DePalma, Tobacco Free Schools Director, via email or at 919 715 4409.

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Bookshelf of a Tobacco Control Expert

(As an occasional feature of The Voice Box, members of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch will recommend books on tobacco and related topics. Feel free to send in your own recommendations to Julie Helsabeck for inclusion in a future issue!)

The selections below are recommended by TPCB Epidemiologist Scott Prescholdbell:

Ashes to Ashes- Richard Kluger   The best history of the tobacco industry bar none from the turn of the century to 1996 (prior to Master Settlement Agreement (MSA.) This classic is a must for anyone who works in this field. Historical in content, it still spends a fair amount of time on the health consequences of tobacco use.

A Question of Intent- David Kessler   The story of the FDA’s role in taking on the tobacco industry from the Director of the FDA during that time. An interesting tale about how the FDA began investigating tobacco when documents surfaced that showed the tobacco industry manipulated nicotine levels, proving the FDA should have jurisdiction over the product. A real page-turner.

Smoke in their Eyes- Michael Pertschuk   A behind the scenes story about the making of the MSA from the Advocacy Institute perspective. A close look at the mostly-missed opportunity for meaningful change and the lessons learned from the tobacco movement. Scan the index for familiar names!

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(Editor’s Note: As a regular feature in The Voice Box, we will address Urban Legends about tobacco that we hear circulating in North Carolina and give the real information to correct them. If you have any questions you'd like this column to address, email Julie Helsabeck.)

• Myth: Smoking makes you thin.

• Reality:

Several studies have determined that the use of cigarettes for weight control has only a temporary short-term effect, if any at all. Since nicotine is an appetite suppressant, weight control does seem like a likely outcome of smoking. However, as individual metabolisms adjust, the weight control benefit is limited. In fact, a series of studies suggest that in the long run a greater proportion of smokers are overweight compared to non-smokers. In terms of initiation, a recent study found that young females who are overweight, or said that they are overweight, often start smoking in an attempt to lose weight.

A 2003 study found that the small weight control effects of smoking did not lead to reduced heart disease. The bottom line was that any perceived or real benefit of being thin was negated by the harm caused by the smoking.

According to the American Psychological Association, a study of young adults in 1988 showed minimal evidence of a weight control benefit from smoking.

Contrary to what cigarette advertisements imply, smoking does not make you super-model thin, but wrinkles your skin, stains your teeth and gives you bad breath. And, in the long run smoking leads to a number of health consequences that shortens life.

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If you have feedback or comments please let us know, OR you can contribute your own story about tobacco prevention and control in N.C. Please send to Julie Helsabeck.