The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services has released its Tobacco Free Report Card for Michigan Colleges and Universities, finding there is some room for improvement when it comes to preventing students from smoking. Department public health consultant Amanda Gallaher tells us a surprising number of college students use nicotine.
“At least 21% of 18 to 24 year olds currently use E-cigarettes,” Gallaher said. “That’s pretty high, and we do consider E-cigarettes to be a type of tobacco, and about 11% of 18 to 24 year olds to smoke cigarettes.”
Gallaher says most colleges do have some kind of anti smoking policy, but many still allow tobacco use in some areas or under some conditions. The state health department is offering colleges and universities help implementing tobacco free policies, and there are grants they can pursue to help. For southwest Michigan, the Tobacco Free Report Card gives both Lake Michigan College and Southwestern Michigan College a D with 65%. Andrews University gets an A with 95%.
