All constituent groups at Citrus College have approved a campus ban of smoking, including vaping.
The college Steering Committee approved the policy on Dec. 10. Next, the Citrus Board of Trustees will review the administrative procedure.
If approved by the college trustees, Administrative Procedure 3750 would prohibit all forms of smoking on campus including any “electronic nicotine delivery system.” The procedure could be enforced as soon as fall 2019.
Dean of Students Maryann Tolano-Leveque presented rankings of Citrus’ smoking policies to several constituent groups who vote on administrative procedures.
Tolano-Leveque said her office surveyed 1,200 Citrus faculty, students and staff about smoking in 2016. She said 76 percent of respondents supported more restrictive rules.
Adjunct faculty representative Bill Zeman expressed concern at the proposal at the Academic Senate on Nov. 14.
“Students don’t consider vaping like smoking,” Zeman said. “When my son has parties at my house, I see students vaping in my house as if it weren’t smoking.”
The U.S. Surgeon General reports vaping has increased among all students in the “National Youth Tobacco Survey 2011-2015.”
The Food and Drug Administration began regulating nicotine vapor devices in 2011. The Surgeon General website on e-cigarettes also said nicotine can inhibit brain development in anyone under 25.
Art history major Angela Brandonisio, 22, smoked a vape pen as she entered the elevator of the VA building. She said she was aware of the proposed rule.
“If they got mad at me, I’ll stop,” Brandonisio said. “But I’m probably going to continue.”
She said she uses her vape pen to relieve stress and she should be free to do so.
“If this were a high school, it’d be different; but we’re adults,” Brandonisio said.
In Citrus College’s district, dozens of vape shops have sprung up since 2011. Many of them are in shopping centers within a mile of a college, high school or middle school.
The map below compiled addresses, business license data and dates from Yelp and Google. Store workers also reported data about vape shops in the Citrus College district.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly quoted John Fincher as saying students vaped at his house parties. Fincher wrote to the editor to say he does not have a son, nor has student parties at his house.
Correction 1/10/19: An earlier version of this article misstated that Citrus was ranked the lowest in anti-smoking policies compared to other community colleges. Citrus was tied with a few other community colleges in having a low score of 35 in anti-smoking policies. Some colleges had a score of zero.
