Find out more about UCLA’s plans to go tobacco-free by attending Staff Assembly’s Learn at Lunch on Thursday, when smokers can hear from addiction experts about the most effective ways to quit.Click here to RSVP online to attend the Learn at Lunch, noon to 1 p.m. on Jan. 17 in the Student Activities Center, conference rooms 1-3. Attendees will hear from UCLA nursing professor Linda Sarna, chair of the Tobacco-Free Steering Committee and an oncology nurse with international expertise in tobacco-control policies, and committee member and associate professor of psychiatry Timothy Fong, who led the UCLA Health System's smoke-free transition team.
UCLA will go smoke-free and tobacco-free on Earth Day, April 22. Following UC President Mark Yudof's request that all UC campuses adopt such a policy by 2014, the use of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and all other tobacco products, as well as electronic cigarettes, will be prohibited on UCLA's campus and at sites owned or fully leased by the university. UCLA's Tobacco-Free Steering Committee recommended the policy to the chancellor and is developing the plan with feedback from the Bruin community.
A draft of the tobacco-free policy is available online, and Bruins have access to a variety of free and low-cost support services. While UCLA is the first UC campus to announce when it will go tobacco-free, more than 1,000 colleges and universities nationwide have already adopted tobacco-free or smoke-free policies, and UCLA's health sciences campus and hospitals instituted a smoke-free policy in November, with good results thus far.
UCLA will provide free two-week starter kits of nicotine patches for smokers interested in quitting — or for those looking for an alternative to smoking during the workday. UCLA will also spread the word about 1-800-NO-BUTTS, California's free help-line for tobacco users who want to quit. The campus is also training student mentors to provide peer support for students who want to quit smoking and the Tobacco-Free Steering Committee’s website has links to additional information and support.
