Stillman Awarded Funds Toward Tobacco and Vape-Free Campus Effort

If you’re a smoker who is thinking about taking a ride onto Stillman College’s campus, you’ll soon have until you reach the guard shack to take your last drag!

Stillman College was recently awarded a grant from Truth Initiative to adopt a 100 percent tobacco/vape-free campus policy, as research identifies a connection between youth vaping and not only the increased risk of testing positive for COVID-19 but also the severity of symptoms for those who use e-cigarettes. Source.

A press release states:

Over the next 19 months, Stillman College will form a campus task force that will assess smoking, vaping and tobacco use behaviors and attitudes, identify a treatment plan for current smokers and vapers and develop a smoke, vape, and tobacco-free policy. Two student leaders will also develop and lead educational efforts to build a movement to become a smoke, vape, and tobacco-free campus. After participation in the program, the institutions are poised to join a growing movement that will protect more than 1.9 million students and 159,000 employees in 40 states.

This year, 14 grant recipients were selected, but the Truth Initiative Tobacco/Vape-Free College Program has awarded more than $2.4 million in funding to 200 colleges, universities, and college systems since 2015.

The organization describes itself as a national public health organization dedicated to a future where tobacco and nicotine addiction are things of the past. truthinitiative.org.

For decades, health organizations have discouraged smoking by exposing the effects on one’s body, and the recent popularity with vaping is that it was touted as being healthier. However, studies have proven that to be false as e-cigarettes are said to produce aerosols, which contain tiny particles that lead to cardiovascular injury. Thus, the reason those with COVID-19 are said to have greater difficulty rehabilitating if they vape. Source.

Since vaping is most common among younger generations, it makes sense for colleges and universities to be targeted by Truth Initiative.

Here’s to Stillman College being an advocate for health in addition to academics and working to make sure its students are alive to see the future for which they prepare.