Faced with Thousands in Damage and Clean-Up Costs, Inver Hills Bans Tobacco Use on Campus

After spending roughly $15,000 a year to clean up carelessly tossed cigarette butts and discarded cigarette packs, Inver Hills Community College has decided to stomp out smoking on campus.

This August, the college will implement a campus-wide ban on smoking and smokeless tobacco. Under the ban, the use of tobacco will be limited to two specially designated areas in the college’s parking lots.

The ban is the latest step in a years-long battle against cigarette-related damage on campus, according to Inver Hills Community College President Tim Wynes. Not only do some smokers leave cigarette butts strewn across campus, Wynes said, they also stub out burning cigarettes on walls, trashcans and other surfaces, leaving ugly black scorch marks on college property. The trash and the damage drag down the aesthetic appeal of the campus, Wynes said.

“Just walking in through the parking lot to my office every day, I pick up cigarette packs,” Wynes said. “If there was a fixed object you could put your cigarette out on, that’s what people were doing.”

The battle to mitigate cigarette-related damage predates Wynes, who arrived on campus last fall as the new college president. In an effort to contain the littering and damage, college officials designated “smoking areas” across the campus, and put up ashtrays and trashcans for students. But the effort to contain smoking on campus failed: After students began using the trashcans to put out lit cigarettes, the college moved the damaged receptacles back indoors, Wynes said. Nor would smokers obey the designated smoking area rules, the president noted.

Last fall, the college formed the Tobacco Policy Taskforce and charged it with finding a solution for the tobacco situation on campus. The group — which included several smokers — worked for months to get feedback from students and staff on a draft of the no-smoking policy. The new policy was presented to the Student Senate and union representatives before its eventual approval. 

Employees caught violating the policy could face disciplinary action under the new rule, while students can face sanctions under the college’s Student Code of Conduct. This spring and summer, college officials will work to educate current students and employees on the new policy, according to a press release issued by the college.

While the priority of the policy is to protect campus property, Wynes also hopes the new rule will have a positive effect on students’ health. The campus health office offers smoking cessation classes and nicotine patches to help students quit, the president said.

“We’re trying to get people to think about healthy solutions,” Wynes said. “We are not trying to dictate to anybody whether they can [smoke] in their private life; that their choice.”

Correction: Inver Hills Community College's smoking ban takes effect in August.