Many college students have smoked for years and want to quit. Others may be starting for the first time.

For the college administrator who wants to have a positive impact on the students' lives, participation in Great American Smokeout can accomplish just that.

Recent studies show that there is an intense need for effective smoking cessation programs on campus. Among all smokers, the prevalence by age is highest among college-age people (ages 18-24). The annual prevalence of tobacco use among all smokers since 1990 has remained virtually unchanged, meaning that other age groups are decreasing tobacco use, while college students are smoking at a greater rate.

Tobacco causes 30% of all cancer deaths. A recent Center for Disease Control study (April 2002) reports that smoking related illness costs the nation more than $157 billion annually. Of all smokers, one in three will die prematurely from tobacco use.

Two Harvard School of Public Health studies published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and the Journal of American College Health in March 2001 reported that colleges and universities can reduce smoking among students by making dormitories smoke-free and by improving smoking cessation programs.

The studies found that:

• Non-smokers are 40% less likely to become smokers if they live in smoke-free dorms, but only 27% of colleges prohibit smoking in dorms.
• The relationship of type of residence to smoking status differed according to students’ smoking histories. Among students who were not regular smokers before age 19, current cigarette use was significantly lower for those living in smoke-free housing than for those in unrestricted housing. Among students who had smoked regularly before age 19, there was no difference in current cigarette use by housing type.
• Of schools with cessation programs, only 31% reported having individualized counseling. Only 25% offer comprehensive programs with counseling, screening and assessment by a physician or health professional. Only 19% offer cessation products approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The researchers concluded that cessation programs must be better tailored to students' needs and marketed more effectively.

Great American Smokeout is a great way for smokers to prove to themselves that they can quit for a day, in the hopes of quitting for good. It is also the optimal time to reinforce prevention messages for students who may be contemplating starting to smoke.

The Great American Smokeout campus coordinator can be a member of the college administration, teaching staff, or student body. The coordinator should work with the local American Cancer Society office for training and materials to ensure the most powerful campus event possible. The coordinator should also have time to plan events, recruit volunteers and distribute promotional materials for the event.

The key to success is to hold your Great American Smokeout activity in a highly visible, popular place where students cannot miss it. The college "quad," student union, or cafeteria entrance are ideal locations for Great American Smokeout fun.

Here are some ideas that have proven effective in the past:

• Ask the cafeteria to serve "cold turkey" lunches on Great American Smokeout day for those smokers who are trying to quit.
  
  
• Distribute Great American Smokeout Survival Kits at the central location of your activities. Kits can include literature, chewing gum, carrots, and information on campus support groups.
  
  
• Announce smoke-free campus policies with on-campus ceremonies and local media coverage to coincide with other Great American Smokeout events.
  
  
• Suggest a competition among campus fraternities and sororities to help smokers quit.
  
  
• Work with college newspaper staff to cover Great American Smokeout activities on campus. Or, recruit the college radio station to include continuous coverage of campus events for Great American Smokeout. Arrange for interviews and the communication of smoking facts to enhance your message on the air.
  
  
• Ask the student government to proclaim the third Thursday of November Great American Smokeout Day on campus. Follow this with a request to pass a resolution for a smoke-free learning environment.
  
  
• Ask a photographer from the college yearbook staff to attend Great American Smokeout activities to ensure that event memories are saved for the students.
  
  
• Work with the education department to coordinate the visitation of education majors to local schools to student-teach children about the hazards of smoking.
  
  
• On Great American Smokeout day, make a huge statement by creating a large cigarette out of a garbage can and other materials. Display the garbage can cigarette in a populated area on campus. Clean up all the butts on campus the day before and throw them in the cigarette can. Toss cigarette packs and paraphernalia in the large cigarette cans from students who pledge to can smoking for the day.
  
  
• Organize a photography competition where entrants submit photos that depict their reasons for staying smoke-free, such as athletics or fun with loved ones. Ask some former smokers to serve on a panel of judges, and award prizes for the top photos. Post all entries on a bulletin board or web site!
  
  
• Encourage professors to display a tobacco ad or two in their classroom and lead a discussion that uncovers the sub-conscious messages in the ads. Then, to lead the group in a discussion about whether or not these claims are true. Understanding the manipulations of Big Tobacco will empower college students to resist their messages.
  
  
• Student health care systems should be proactive about offering free or low-cost cessation counseling and other services. Don’t wait for the students to come to you.
  
  
• Urge campus bookstore managers to remove tobacco products from their shelves, if they haven’t already.
  
  
  

In response to a dramatic increase over the past decade in the numbers of college-age smokers, the New England Division of the American Cancer Society launched the New England Campus Initiative, a comprehensive seven-step program that empowers college students to make their campuses smoke-free.

Everything you need to initiate a smoke-free campaign on your campus can be downloaded from this page. You will find a manual titled Advocating for a Tobacco-Free Campus that includes action plans, strategies for dealing with the college administration and the media, specific activities guaranteed to spark public debate, and provocative flyers you can reproduce.

In addition, we have included multiple fact sheets, sample policies, a sample timeline for adoption and implementation of a smoke-free policy, sample press releases, and articles on the subject that have appeared in various campus publications and newspapers.

While we encourage you to be creative in how you promote and distribute this information, we ask that you do not change the data and core materials we have provided.

Good luck with your campaign!