Truckee Meadows Community College is considering becoming a smoke-free campus after receiving a grant that will go towards that effort.
"Truckee Meadows Community College has always been a place that is concerned about the health and safety of our students, faculty and other employees," says Kate Kirkpatrick, a representative from TMCC. "We're not a smoke-free campus yet, but we did receive a $10,000 grant from the Truth Initiative to explore going smoke-free over the next 18 months."
Kirkpatrick says that if approved, the initiative will not only ban smoking, but also vaping, chewing and other tobacco-related activities, permitting them only in designated areas. But before anything is decided, Kirkpatrick wants there to be discussion on both sides of the issue.
"We do understand that people who use tobacco products may have concerns, so we want to make sure that we are hearing those voices in addition to the folks who are wanting this initiative to move forward.”
She says the next step is to create a campus-wide committee that will have representation from the student body and faculty. They will look for ways to support the initiative, provide resources to help people go tobacco-free, and hear the concerns of tobacco users.
