Almost all vapes have nicotine, an addictive drug found in regular cigarettes. Nicotine can be especially harmful to the brain, which continues to develop until around the age of 25. (FILE PHOTO: Sean Hogan / WTIU News)
IU identifies as a tobacco-free university; the use and sale of tobacco products and smoking-related products are prohibited on campus. This includes cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, vapes, cigars and more.
Even though this policy is in place, it’s not easy to enforce.
Kathy Adams Riester, IU associate vice provost for student life and dean of students, said IU’s tobacco-free policy relies on community members for enforcement. The university expects people on campus to ask those who are vaping or smoking to stop, similar to when masks were mandated during the pandemic. However, this method is not foolproof.
“We had some very strict places,” Adams Riester said about mask enforcement. “But also kind of out and about generally, we can't be everywhere. People had to... help us when people weren't complying by saying something to them or asking them to put on a mask.”
Vaping is a particular problem. It can be very discreet and people can get away with it, Adams Riester said, which makes it even harder to strictly regulate.
“We want people to have a sense that this is their place, and this is their home, and they're welcome here,” Adams Riester said. “I don't want them to feel like we're monitoring every single thing that they do that might not be following a policy, but there are things we certainly do [want to monitor], and if it's a problem then I want us to address it.”
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Still, research shows vaping can have negative health effects. Almost all vapes have nicotine, an addictive drug found in regular cigarettes. Nicotine can be especially harmful to the brain, which continues to develop until around the age of 25. Using nicotine at a young age can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, mood and learning, as well as increase the risk of future addiction to other drugs.
Hsien-Chang Lin, professor in the IU Department of Applied Health Science in the School of Public Health, said he thinks the absence of strict enforcement warrants further discussion among administrators, especially since the aerosol that vapes produce disappears within seconds. Even though the university does have various support systems available for students who want to quit vaping, Lin thinks the university should push to alter students’ perception of vaping and make them more aware of the risks vaping presents.
“The awareness also has to be around this kind of characteristic that the flavor may attract people to keep using it,” Lin said. “We'll also have to communicate with the users that there are some harmful substances that could come from the flavoring chemicals.”
Lin, along with IU PhD student Meng Yang, did a study on stealth vaping — the act of discreet vaping, especially when rules prohibit it — among college students at four universities, including IU. Results demonstrated that students who had friends who were more accepting of stealth vaping were more likely to stealth vape themselves. Those who had peers who did not vape on campus and had a more positive outlook on regulations were less likely to vape on campus.
Lin also found students did indeed get away with vaping in bathrooms, dorm rooms and libraries. Students were most likely to blow the smoke into their clothing or swallow it.
“It could be because they are not aware of (regulations), or some students may feel like ‘I'm not sure if vaping, e-cigarette is considered the tobacco products that were being considered within this policy,’” Lin said. “Students did probably feel like there's no real penalty, any kind of consequences, [and] they still vape…vape aerosol disappears rapidly and can be odorless, and we lack the human resources to enforce this on campus.”
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Adams Riester said regulation in residence halls is stricter because there is a larger staff to look out for people vaping and smoking. While there are records of vaping in residence halls, there are none in the Office of Student Conduct. The university aims to educate people on the health and safety concerns surrounding vaping and smoking, rather than severely punishing someone for doing it.
“You're not going to get kicked out of the residence hall if you're seeing vaping one time,” Adams Riester said. “There's going to be a progression, and hopefully an educational conversation about the impact that has on the community and the health of others.”
Samantha Reitz, IU collegiate recovery community coordinator, said she sometimes gives class and group presentations on how nicotine addiction has evolved and how vaping differs from cigarettes. She thinks it is important to educate the college education on the myths that exist about vaping in the effort to help them understand why it is harmful.
“We want to promote healthy choices,” Reitz said. “We acknowledged that they're [students] here for their academics, but they also are experiencing a lot of other things while they're here, and so how can we support you and what you want? If you want to stop vaping or cut back or find an alternative or something like that, then let's absolutely support you, and help you do that.”
The Substance Use Intervention Services provides various avenues of support to help people who want to quit smoking and vaping, such as weekly support group meetings where students can have open conversations about substance use. About three to four students consistently attend.
As part of the smoking cessation program, Reitz provides Quit Kits with items like a straw and rubber band that people can fidget with to help distract them. Nicorette gum and regular gum are also included. On average, between two and four kits are requested a week. Kits are also sent out over breaks.
“Those are things that students can request online, and we ship them to wherever they live,” Reitz said. “Even if you're an online student, we'll ship it to you.”
Reitz said she also meets with students individually by appointment so they can get more one-on-one counseling. During these sessions, Reitz talks about what resources and doctors are available as well as what recovery looks like.
“[When] trying to quit anything, you have to look at the whole person. We take a very holistic approach, and target each area of the individual,” Reitz said. “That oftentimes comes with them talking about a lot of things that aren't necessarily specific to the substance, but then that helps us guide them on coping mechanisms.”
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Students find it hard to quit vaping because it has become a social norm, Reitz said. If going to a gathering where people will be vaping, Reitz recommends students chew gum or purchase and wear a certain necklace designed to help people quit.
“They have little like tubes; it looks almost like a short metal straw,” Reitz said. “They can like kind of suck on that or blow on that. It's very discreet and it looks just like a necklace. They can have something to do the motion with.”
Lin said it is especially important to increase vaping and smoking regulations now since tobacco manufacturers continue to create appealing yet harmful products. Many people, including those who vape, may not realize the risks vaping presents to themselves and to those around them who may inhale the secondhand smoke.
“They [regulators] have been chasing the path of the tobacco industry because they are so creative,” Lin said. “There will definitely be more innovative and emerging tobacco products that are being introduced to the market, so more timely and systematic surveillance in the regulations is needed. I know policymakers are working really hard on this, but they are always following behind the tobacco industry.”
