Published on Thursday, April 3, 2008

Smoke-fee environments have had little to no effect on smokers

By GILES BRUCE

Matt Mok, junior business major, smokes a cigarette outside DuSable Hall on Wednesday afternoon. "It's a big hassle," Mok said. "I try not to stand right by the doors." He said the ban didn't have a big effect on how much he smokes. "Maybe I smoke less when I drink [in bars]. ... I probably drink less too."

It’s been a little over three months since the rest of Illinois joined DeKalb and went smoke-free.

As of Jan. 1, 2008, Illinois residents are no longer allowed to smoke within 15 feet of the doors of businesses and public buildings, and smoking is prohibited in bars, restaurants and other public buildings.

DeKalb’s no smoking ordinance went into effect in restaurants on Sept. 1, 2006, and then in bars on Sept. 1, 2007. The effects of these smoking bans may take time to be fully realized, but have these bans actually encouraged NIU smokers to quit?

Health educator Mary Strohm thinks it could be a factor in someone’s decision to quit, but likely not the main one.

“It sets an environment if students were already planning on smoking,” she said. “They don’t have that temptation [to smoke] when they go to a bar.”

Strohm said the number one reason students give for quitting is their health. After that, the next most popular reason is that cigarettes are too expensive, and the third is social stigma.

She said the social stigma associated with smoking has become more prevalent over the last two years.

“Bans could be a side effect to that,” Strohm said.

Kris Povlsen, 2nd ward alderman and director of prevention at Ben Gordon Center, was a key proponent in getting the DeKalb smoking ordinance passed.

He said the more difficult it is for smokers to light up, the more likely they are to quit.

“We’ll continue to see a decline in tobacco use once all states go smoke-free,” Povlsen said.
Povlsen also discussed the social stigma now associated with smoking. He said that smokers now feel like “lepers” and a group of smokers huddled together outside look like “a little group of drug dealers.”

Both Strohm and Povlsen pointed to the fact that since California became the first state to ban smoking in public places in the 1990s, smoking rates there have decreased.

Dr. Saroj Ahluwalia, associate director of health services, said that since the bans have been enacted, she hasn’t seen an increase in the number of students looking for help to quit.

“It has not been brought to my attention,” Ahluwalia said. “In my opinion, I don’t think [the ban] will have an effect.”

Muhammad Mustafa, a worker at Smoker’s World, 818 W. Lincoln Highway, said the smoke-free law has not had an effect on sales.

“It’s pretty much been the same,” Mustafa said. “There’ll always be smokers.”