<p>What would happen if Swarthmore had a no smoking policy- would some teenage smokers benefit from quitting before they had too many years of the habit/addiction to quit easily to be able to attend it, would that be an incentive to quit instead of the school enabling their habit? Swarthmore would jump in my estimation if they did not support a smoking atmosphere.</p>
<p>Fine with me if Swarthmore simply rejected applicants who smoke. I'm an ex-smoker. I hate the things.</p>
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What would happen if Swarthmore had a no smoking policy- would some teenage smokers benefit from quitting before they had too many years of the habit/addiction to quit easily to be able to attend it, would that be an incentive to quit instead of the school enabling their habit?
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<p>First of all, Swarthmore does have a non-smoking policy. No smoking in any College building. No smoking in 90% of the dorms. The only way a student lives in a smoking dorm is to choose to do so.</p>
<p>Second, Swarthmore's surveyed rate of smoking is below the national average for college students.</p>
<p>Third, living in a non-smoking dorm reduces the chances of a non-smoker prior to age 19 from becoming a smoker during college (from 17% to 10%). However, for students who smoked at age 19, there was no difference in smoking rates whether they lived in smoking or non-smoking dorms:</p>
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The study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that the relationship of type of residence to smoking status differed according to students’ smoking histories. Among students who were not regular smokers before age 19, current cigarette use was significantly lower for those living in smoke-free housing (10 percent) than for those in unrestricted housing (16.9 percent). Among students who had smoked regularly before age 19, there was no difference in current cigarette use by housing type.
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