SUNY-ESF to enact tobacco ban in spring 2020

SUNY-ESF is enacting a tobacco product ban in January that will focus on cigarette products and snuff tobacco.

The ban will take effect Jan. 1. SUNY-ESF is one of the last SUNY schools to institute a tobacco-free campus, said Joanne Barry, former assistant vice president for human resources at SUNY Cortland, at a November town hall meeting on the ban. 

SUNY’s statewide Board of Trustees passed the Tobacco Free SUNY initiative in 2012, urging SUNY schools across the state to ban smoking tobacco products on their campuses. Syracuse University, which neighbors SUNY-ESF, became tobacco-free in July 2015 and bans smoking in all campus buildings. 

The ban states that no one is allowed to use tobacco products on campus, including in vehicles in parking garages. 

SUNY-ESF’s Undergraduate Student Association passed a resolution in 2016 calling for a ban on tobacco products, and SUNY-ESF has been preparing for one since, said Mark Lichtenstein, chief of staff and executive director of sustainability at SUNY-ESF.

Lichtenstein said he doesn’t want people who are caught smoking to be punished in a severe matter. 

“The first step of enforcement is education and then offer cessation programs for people and the appropriate counseling that they need,” Lichtenstein said. 

SUNY-ESF received a “D” rating on New York state’s 2019 Dean’s List for tobacco-free campuses. An “A” rating means the campus is tobacco-free, while a “D” rating, the lowest possible grade, means there are few restrictions. SU earned a “C.” 

“We’re an environmental school. It makes sense to have a smoking ban,” said Kristen Tan, a junior at SUNY-ESF.

SUNY-ESF’s ban also focuses on the environment impact of smoking products such as cigarettes. Lichtenstein created different student teams to look at the effects of smoking waste on the environment. 

“Students have come to me to talk about the impact of cigarette butts that have been thrown on the ground to say salamanders,” said Lichtenstein. “As they disintegrate, they have the potential impact to hurt the delicate skin of a salamander.”

The college is trying to push people to use tobacco products in Oakwood Cemetery instead of on campus. Oakwood Cemetery is adjacent to SU and SUNY-ESF’s campuses. Lichtenstein hopes to talk further with Oakwood Cemetery officials about the matter, he said. 

One of Lichtenstein’s biggest concerns is the response to the ban’s implementation from visitors to the college area. While tailgating for a SU football game, he saw people smoking and told them about the upcoming ban. 

“There were some groans and stuff,” he said. “That’s just an entire group of people that we’re going to have to deal with.”