Over 250 Students Pledge for Smoke-free Campus

Over 250 students stopped by the Truth Tour booth, on Wednesday 25th September between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm, to sign a pledge for a Smoke-free campus.

Students joined in with singing and dancing activities while the following key messages were the take-away for the day:

• 99% of smokers start by age 26.
• Young people are less likely to start smoking when they know that colleges do not allow smoking on campus.
• While the number of cigarette smokers has steadily been declining, the number of e-cigarette users has sky rocketed;  E-cigarette use among high schoolers increased by 78 percent between 2017 and 2018. 
• One standard JUUL cartridge has as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.
• The safety of e-cigs or any vaping device is not yet proven. However, early evidence suggests that vaping is linked to significant lung damage.

Naomi Forey, Health Services Coordinator, spoke of her concern for young students who had taken up vaping. "JUUL, the most popular e-cigarette, owns three-quarters of the entire market share. It recently tripled it’s market share in just over one year."

Our Truth Initative Student Leaders, Lexi Tarlton and Haroon Sekhor encourage all students, faculty, and staff to participate in the National Day of Action #DitchJUUL event by visiting their Truth Initiative Booth at the Clovis Community College Rocktoberfest event on Oct. 9, 2019 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.