title: Cigarette butts near building entrances: what is the impact of smoke-free college campus policies?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Indoor and outdoor tobacco-free campus policies for schools, hospitals and universities are increasingly being adopted. Yet, little direct evidence exists on the impact of tobacco-free campuses on tobacco outcomes.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify differences in cigarettes smoked at main campus building entrances by campus policy strength.
  
  
  METHODS
  Researchers collected cigarette butts (n=3427) at main building entrances (n=67) at baseline and follow-up on 19 community college campuses stratified by strength of campus outdoor tobacco policy (none, perimeter/designated area, 100% tobacco free). Outcome measures included the number of butts per day at building entrances averaged to create a campus score. Analysis of variance techniques examined differences in scores by the strength of campuses' outdoor tobacco policy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred per cent tobacco-free community college campuses had significantly fewer cigarette butts at doors than campuses with no outdoor restrictions. Butts on community college campuses with partial policies were not statistically different from campuses with no policy or campuses with a 100% tobacco-free policy but indicated that a dose-response relationship may exist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides some of the first evidence on the impact of 100% tobacco-free outdoor policies on college campuses using an objective and reproducible measure. Such policies likely provide a more healthful environment for students, staff, faculty and visitors.
authors.affiliation: Tobacco Prevention and Evaluation Program, Department of Family Medicine, School of Medicine, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 590 Manning Drive, CB 7595, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA. jose.lee@unc.edu
authors.forename: Joseph G L
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Leah M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ranney
authors.forename: Adam O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000379:methods; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D016134:Organizational Policy; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D013334:Students; D062789:Tobacco Products / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014495:Universities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution; D014866:Waste Products