Brittany Tolleson
The Communicator
SFCC’s smoking policies and reg- ulations are still in full effect for the 2014 school year.
“Our rules have to be codified in WAC-132Q” says Kenneth DeM- ello, Director CCS Office of Cam- pus Safety. “So that’s what we use to enforce smoking on campus”, “Some people sometimes get con- fused and don’t understand how we do that, so if you guys cou;d help us get the word out that would be wonderful” DeMellow said.
As it relates to smoking the policy states that smoking and tobacco use are prohibited in all Commu- nity Colleges of Spokane facilities and motor pool vehicles.
Smoking and tobacco use are also prohibited within twenty-five feet of entrances, exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes that serve an enclosed area and where designated on college prem- ises.
“Smoking” means Inhaling, ex- haling, burning, carrying or pos- sessing any lighted tobacco prod- uct, including cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, and any other lit to- bacco products; or the use of elec- tronic nicotine delivery devices including, but not limited to, electronic cigarettes, vapor cigarettes, or similar products.
“Tobacco use” means the per- sonal use of any tobacco product, which shall include smoking, as well as use of an electronic ciga- rette, smokeless tobacco, including snuff, chewing tobacco, smokeless pouches, any form of loose-leaf, smokeless tobacco or any other device intended to simulate smoking.
If you see anyone smoking in undesignated areas it is asked that you “engage the person” first by asking them to stop. “If you didn’t feel comfortable do- ing that, you can call campus safety and say hey this is what’s going on” said DeMello.
If a student is found smoking they could be cited a ten dollar ticket. If a student is cited more than “3 or 4 ten dollar tickets, at some point we’ll refer them for a code of con- duct violation” DeMello said.
“I would also really appreciate if they (student smokers) would fo- cus on smoking at the smoking locations only and actually using the boxes to extinguish their cigarettes rather than simply throwing them on the ground” and “make sure that you’re actually within a rea- sonable distance of the butt box” DeMello said.