The MATC District Board approved a policy on June 26, 2012, that all MATC property, buildings and grounds would become tobacco free on Nov. 1, 2012. Under Policy  G0401, MATC Public Safety will give any person violating the provisions of this policy a verbal warning.
Any student who continues to violate the policy will be referred to the respective campus Office of Student Life. Any faculty or staff member who continues to violate the provisions cited above will be referred to his/her respective division/department head.
Any person who becomes disorderly when asked to comply with Board Policy G0401 Tobacco-Free District Facilities may be cited by each respective campus’s local law enforcement department.
Initially when the policy came into force, it was respected by smokers who would go across to Juneau Street and extend to the sidewalks of Sixth Street. However such gestures have been short-lived over time. When the policy was first implemented smokers did not congregate at the entrances of the college. There was not any smoke paraphernalia or ashtrays in sight.
However, over time, students simply go outside of the building to have their cigarette breaks. This is frustrating to say the least as at every entrance of the building throughout the day, a non-smoker has to force their way through a group of smokers and smoke inhalation to enter the building. More shockingly, ashtrays can be seen outside the technical building. It does not matter how nice you ask the smoker to refrain from smoking in close proximity to the campus, the response is often rude and disrespectful.
It is evident that the college has gone to great expense to ensure students are aware that smoking on the campus is prohibited. But what steps are being taken to actively enforce that? Passive smokers do not have a say in the debate.
Smoke inhalation can cause cancer. To allow students to continue to smoke on the campus [“grounds”] not only increases that risk, it defeats the whole object of the policy. The non-smoker is the silent observer who can very easily succumb to the effects of smoke inhalation.
It is not enough to have a policy if there are no proper, effective mechanisms. It makes no sense to divert funds into supporting a non-enforceable policy.
The health and safety of students was clearly taken on board when the policy was implemented. It begs the question, given that faculty and staff access the building every day, what steps have been taken to eliminate smoking from property buildings and grounds? When will concerted action be taken to drive home to students that the policy will be enforced and that repeated offenders will suffer the consequences of not having the interest of their fellow students in mind when they continue to openly flout policy.