Employees Invited to Weigh in on Proposed E-Cigarette Ban

Employees Invited to Weigh in on Proposed E-Cigarette Ban

By Amy WilliamsUniversity Relations – Communications
Printer-friendly version PDF version
The proposed revisions recommend prohibiting e-cigarettes on campus.
The proposed revisions recommend prohibiting e-cigarettes on campus.

The Division of Human Resources is leading a University-wide conversation about potential revisions to the University's smoking and tobacco use policy.

This is in response to a University task force’s recommendation to add electronic nicotine delivery systems, otherwise known as e-cigarettes, to the list of tobacco products prohibited on campus.

You can read the task force's executive summary and full report online.

Allison Vaillancourt, vice president for business affairs and human resources, is discussing these recommendations with University shared governance groups and has invited the public to submit written comments regarding the policy prop­­osal as well. The Faculty Senate will be discussing the proposal at its next meeting, on Sept. 12.

Members of the University community can submit comments to the Division of Human Resources via email to hradmin@email.arizona.edu, via phone at 520-621-1684, or via mail to P.O. Box 210158, Tucson, AZ 85721-0158.

The proposed revisions come at the recommendation of the E-Cigarette Policy Review Task Force1, made up of nine UA researchers with expertise on the issue. The task force was charged with determining the effects of e-cigarettes usage on the health and well-being of University employees, students and campus visitors.

The task force concluded that e-cigarettes may compromise the health and well-being of those on campus who use them, as well as those who are exposed to their vapors.

"The task force felt that the preliminary evidence on e-cigarettes suggests that they pose a threat to health, and that their potential hazards outweigh the possible benefits," said Judith Gordon, professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and a member of the task force.

The task force also noted that 11 out of the 15 ABOR-identified peer universities have banned e-cigarette use.

Currently, the UA's smoking and tobacco policy prohibits the use of products that contain nicotine or tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, bidis, kreteks, hookahs, water pipes and all forms of smokeless tobacco. The policy also prohibits littering of tobacco or smoking-related products. You can find the current policy here and the proposed revisions here.

When the University became tobacco free in 2014, e-cigarettes were excluded until further research could be done. The task force came to its final conclusion in April, and they determined e-cigarettes vapors can negatively impact bystanders with preexisting lung conditions, such as individuals with asthma, and that nicotine can be transferred to bystanders by passive exposure to e-cigarette vapors.

During the public comment period for the original policy in 2014, several people wrote to say that e-cigarettes should be allowed because they are an effective smoking cessation device.

“The task force called these claims into question,” Vaillancourt said. “However, this is not a personal safety policy. The proposed policy language is designed to protect the health of those exposed to secondhand vapors.”

Vaillancourt was the executive sponsor of the task force, which included the following members: Dr. Christian Bime, associate professor of medicine; Scott Boitano, professor of physiology; Tracy Crane, manager of clinical services for the Arizona Smokers Helpline; Judith Gordon, professor and vice chair for research for family and community medicine; Clark Lantz, professor of cellular and molecular medicine; Carolyn Merkle, associate professor emeritus of nursing; Dr. Myra Muramoto, chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine; Mimi Nichter, professor in the School of Anthropology; and Nicole Yuan, associate professor of health promotion sciences. 

UA@Work is produced by University Communications

Marshall Building, Suite 100. 845 N. Park Ave., Tucson, AZ 85719 (or) 
P.O. Box 210158B, Tucson, AZ 85721

T 520.621.1877  F 520.626.4121

Feedback University Privacy Statement 

2024 © The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona