It is the primary goal of UC Santa Cruz to promote a safe and healthy atmosphere for students, faculty, staff, and visitors on the University of California, Santa Cruz campus through reducing the health risks associated with tobacco smoke. The intent of this policy is to protect the rights of the nonsmoking community to breathe smoke-free air. This policy bans smoking in areas occupied by the nonsmoking population and applies to all individuals on the UCSC campus and includes all nonresidential University buildings and vehicles. Detailed Policy Statement A. Health Issues 1. The U.S. Public Health Service documents on the health consequences of smoking have conclusively established cigarette smoking as the largest single preventable cause of premature death and disability in the United States.
Involuntary smoking is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers.
Simple separation of smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce, but does not eliminate, exposure of nonsmokers to environmental tobacco smoke. Cigarette smoke is a complex mixture of over 1200 identified substances which affect indoor air quality. Among them are carbon monoxide, nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, metals, aldehydes, phenol, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide. Exposure to these and other potentially harmful substances through environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace can be substantial both in duration and intensity. This is of particular concern for individuals exposed to industrial toxins whose effects may be intensified by tobacco smoke.