College opens conversation on tobacco-free campus

A semester after Vermont’s new Tobacco 21 policy went into effect, the conversation regarding tobacco at Middlebury now centers around a possible transition to a tobacco-free campus.

The Tobacco 21 policy, active as of Sep. 1 of last year, raised the legal age of sale for tobacco products to 21 throughout Vermont. In compliance with this policy, Middlebury banned the possession and use of tobacco and tobacco-related products such as e-cigarettes for students under 21. Likewise, the sale and distribution of tobacco is prohibited on campus.

The implementation of Tobacco 21 has sparked a new focus on the role of tobacco in the Health and Wellness Education Office and across campus.

This week, Kevin Kareckas, the alcohol and other drug education specialist, addressed the Middlebury Community Council about his office’s initiatives to provide better support to members of the campus community who have negative relationships to tobacco.

Currently, students can set up one-on-one consultations with the Wellness Education office at go/talktobacco. The college also connects students with the State of Vermont’s online and over the phone program 802Quits. It also offers its own group-based cessation counseling program known as Freshstart.

Kareckas discussed how a grant the Health and Wellness Education Office applied for would provide the campus with more resources to support community members. He asked members of the Community Council for feedback on what different kinds of support should be prioritized.

The Community Council meeting also marked the first step in opening up a dialogue about the possibility of moving towards a tobacco-free campus. Middlebury is not currently a tobacco-free or smoke-free campus for students 21 and older, although restrictions exist. With the implementation of Tobacco 21, Kareckas has started to explore what a tobacco-free campus might look like.

“Becoming a tobacco-free campus is a significant process and impacts some people significantly more than others,” Kareckas said, referring to the complex considerations of going tobacco-free and acknowledging how faculty, staff, and students, as well as members of Middlebury summer schools, might be affected differently by tobacco policies.

Kareckas is also looking to expand this dialogue to the student body this week in the form of a go-link survey that will gauge students’ perspectives on tobacco use and policies on campus, as well as support and resources.

The go-link will be active until Wednesday, March 4 and can be accessed at go/tobaccoatmidd.

Other considerations raised by the council included the disparity between smoking and vaping use on campus, as well as whether the implementation of a tobacco-free campus would be feasible. The council, as well as Kareckas, agreed that the current focus is on support, and that any move towards a tobacco-free campus would be a long and deliberate process that would accommodate the different needs of community members.

“The direction of future tobacco initiatives on campus needs to be a community decision with multiple stakeholders at the table,” Kareckas said.