Tobacco- and Smoke-Free Campus

Policy 4.16 · Adopted 2013 · Last revised 2024 · Responsible office: Office of the Vice President for Finance and Administration, in consultation with Human Resources and the Dean of Students · Next review 2029

The College is a tobacco- and smoke-free campus. This policy was adopted by resolution of the Board of Trustees in 2013, consistent with the 2012 recommendation of the Ohio Board of Regents that the state’s public colleges and universities adopt tobacco-free policies. It is in addition to the Ohio Smoke-Free Workplace Act, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3794, which prohibits smoking in enclosed areas of places of employment and places open to the public.

1. What is prohibited

The use of any of the following is prohibited on all College property, at all times:

• Cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos, pipes, and hookah
• Electronic smoking devices, including e-cigarettes and vaporizers, with or without nicotine
• Smokeless tobacco, including chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, and nicotine pouches
• Any lit or heated plant product, including cannabis and herbal products

The sale, advertising, and free distribution of tobacco and nicotine products are prohibited on College property and at College-sponsored events. The College does not accept sponsorship from tobacco or electronic smoking device manufacturers or retailers.

Nicotine replacement products approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cessation, such as patches, gum, and lozenges, are not prohibited.

2. Where this policy applies

All property owned, leased, or controlled by the College: every building and structure, the Commons, the Shop Building, Barn Complex B and the pastures, the Cemetery Practicum Ground, the Perimeter Course, all lots, and the Aviation and Heavy Equipment Annex. The policy applies in vehicles owned or leased by the College, and in privately owned vehicles while they are on College property. There are no designated smoking areas.

At practicum, clinical, and apprenticeship sites, and at facilities the College uses under agreement, the policy of the site governs.

3. Instruction

Cannabis Cultivation and Retail Operations. The College holds no license issued by the Division of Cannabis Control, and no regulated cannabis product is kept or handled on College property. Laboratory instruction uses non-regulated plant material, handled under the program’s laboratory rules; practicum is completed at cooperating licensed facilities under the facilities’ rules. Neither is an exception to this policy. Plant material handled in instruction is not smoked, burned, or vaporized. The use of cannabis on College property is also prohibited by Policy 5.14, Drug-Free Schools and Communities, which applies regardless of Ohio law on adult use.

Theatrical and conditioning smoke. Haze, fog, and smoke effects produced for performance in the Black Box, and the smoke box on the mounted patrol conditioning course, are not smoking under this policy. They are operated by instructors under the Division’s protocol and the applicable fire code. Tobacco products used as stage properties are not lit.

Fire hazard areas. Barn Complex B, hay and bedding storage, the Shop Building, and the Fermentation Cellar are additionally subject to the fire code and to Tolliver Township Fire Department inspection. A person found smoking in a fire hazard area is asked to stop and leave the area immediately, and Campus Safety is notified.

4. Compliance

Compliance is the shared responsibility of every member of the College community. Any member may inform a person using tobacco on College property of this policy and ask that the person stop. Repeated violation by a student is addressed under the Student Code of Conduct (Policy 5.30), and by an employee under the employee handbook. A visitor who does not comply may be asked to leave College property. Organizers of events held on College property, including rentals, are responsible for informing attendees of this policy.

Complaints of smoking in an enclosed area may also be made to the Ohio Department of Health under the Smoke-Free Workplace Act.

5. Cessation

Students may contact Student Health Services or the College’s contracted counseling provider for referral to cessation resources. Employees enrolled in the College’s health plan may obtain cessation benefits as described in the benefits summary in DroverNet. The Ohio Tobacco Quit Line, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669), is available at no charge to Ohio residents and is independent of the College.