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Montgomery College to Go Tobacco-Free August 1, 2008
All Tobacco Products, Including Cigarettes, Chewing Tobacco, Prohibited on College Property
Montgomery College campuses will go tobacco-free beginning on August 1,
2008. All tobacco products, including cigarettes and chewing tobacco, will be
prohibited from Montgomery
College property, including its three
campuses at Germantown, Rockville
and Takoma Park/Silver Spring, and its central administration building in Rockville. This new
policy affects all buildings, athletic fields, pedestrian walkways, entryways, outdoor
terraces, campus bus stops and parking lots.
The tobacco-free policy,
approved recently by the Board of Trustees, was developed after a yearlong
series of discussions by the College’s Tobacco and Smoke Free Task Force. The
task force—comprised of College faculty, staff and student members—began
meeting in the spring of 2007 with the goal of revising the College’s tobacco use
policy. Until August 1, the current policy prohibits smoking within 25 feet of a
College building.
“Montgomery
College’s new tobacco-free policy encourages healthy choices among
our faculty, staff and students,” said Dr. Brian K. Johnson, president of Montgomery
College. “As an
institution of higher learning, the Montgomery College
community should be a model for health education and wellness for the greater community.”
Initially, the College
community and a team of part-time, short-term staff members, known as Healthy
Campus Advocates, will support the regulation of the tobacco-free policy. The
Healthy Campus Advocates will inform and remind students, faculty, staff and
visitors of the new policy and report violations as appropriate.
Montgomery College officials have long been interested in the health
and wellness of its students, faculty and staff. In 2001, the College received
funding from the Maryland State Cigarette Restitution Fund to support the
Healthy Campus Initiative. Through the initiative, the College developed educational
programs that raise awareness about the effects of tobacco use and established
a commitment for Montgomery
College to become
completely tobacco-free.
For more information on Montgomery College's tobacco-free policy, which
takes effect on August 1, please visit http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/tobaccofree/.
# # #
Montgomery College is a public,
open admissions community college with campuses in Germantown, Rockville, and
Takoma Park/Silver Spring, plus workforce development/continuing education
centers and off-site programs throughout Montgomery County, Md. The College
serves nearly 60,000 students a year, through both credit and noncredit
programs, in more than 100 areas of study.
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