The UI includes e-cigarettes in the smoking ban for the first time.
By Katelyn Weisbrod
[email protected]
Including e-cigarettes in the smoking ban went into effect on the University of Iowa campus this week, but some still flout the rules.
A UI sophomore who lives in the residence halls and preferred to remain anonymous, told The Daily Iowan that they often use e-cigarettes in their room.
“It’s incredibly easy,” the student said. “All you need is a box fan blowing out the window.”
Unlike past years, electronic cigarettes are now prohibited on campus. UI interim president Jean Robillard sent an email to students, faculty, and staff last week outlining the UI’s tobacco-free policy. Not only does this policy include the traditional tobacco products — cigarettes and cigars — but includes the more recently-developed e-cigarettes.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that distribute nicotine to the user through water vapor mixed with several chemicals. According to a report by Public Health England, e-cigarettes are 95 percent safer than conventional cigarettes and can help smokers quit. However, the FDA has not yet approved e-cigarettes as a method of quitting smoking, and the topic is contentious among health officials. In the email to students, Robillard — who previously served as the dean for the Carver College of Medicine — says there is “growing evidence of potential health hazards” from e-cig use.
Even though they do not technically contain tobacco, the UI policy bans e-cigarettes. This is because the state of Iowa treats e-cigarettes the same as tobacco products, meaning they cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18.
“The university is committed to supporting a healthy campus culture and promoting the well-being of all campus community members,” UIHC spokesman Tom Moore said. “This commitment, along with a significant amount of research documenting health risks associated with tobacco use, the assessments of regional and national trends, and input from the campus community, provides the rationale for the establishment of a tobacco-free campus policy to include the use of e-cigarettes.”
Other schools across the country have begun to address the issue as well. Ohio State University also prohibits e-cigs, while Northwestern omitted them from their smoking policy.
E-cigarettes do not involve any burning, and the substance that is exhaled is usually water vapor. They can also emit an odor and usually can be used indoors without setting off a smoke detector.
UI Director of Residence Education Kate Fitzgerald said there have been instances in which the smoke detectors have gone off in the dorms from the vapor of an e-cigarette.
“[E-cigarettes] are banned on campus just like other smoking products,” Fitzgerald said. “In the residence halls, we have had concern over the smell, and they have set off the smoke detectors.”