To be or not to be Smoke Free: An Analysis of the University of Alaska Anchorage Peer Institutions Smoking and Tobacco Policies

Abstract

More colleges and universities are adopting smoke-and tobacco-free policies, yet no literature exists on how types of enforcement protocols aide in policy success. The goal of this study was to assess the comprehensive smoke- and tobacco-free policies of the University of Alaska Anchorage’s peer and neighboring postsecondary institutions to determine what enforcement type may benefit the university in moving towards a comprehensive smoke-free campus policy. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. In particular, content analysis was used to determine each peer institution’s campus tobacco policy and enforcement strategy, while case study analysis was used to assess the effectiveness of different enforcement types. Results show that approximately 52% of UAA peer institutions have either comprehensive tobacco- and smoke-free campus policies. Of the institutions with comprehensive smoke- or tobacco-free campus policies, 57% have hard/strict enforcement protocols. The case study analyses of two smoke/tobacco-free campuses suggested that hard enforcement with set guidelines and a punitive offense system would promote more policy success over soft enforcement, which only provided verbal reprimand. Study findings suggested that a hard enforcement type was the preferred enforcement method of the sample and that a hard enforcement type supported overall policy success. The study recommends adoption of comprehensive smoke- or tobacco-free campus policies, utilization of a pre-implementation preparatory period before adoption of comprehensive smoke-or tobacco-free policy, and inclusion of hard enforcement protocols to the comprehensive smoke- or tobacco-free policy.