May 31, 2018

Vancouver, BC – The World Health Organization’s (WHO) World No Tobacco Day on May 31 will also mark the end of Langara College’s first month as a smoke-free campus.

The College adopted a smoke-free policy as part of its ongoing work to create an environment that promotes the overall health and wellness of its campus community members. The new policy prohibits smoking and vaping everywhere on campus and applies to all visitors as well as staff, students, and faculty.

“The response from our community has been very positive,” said Dawn Palmer, vice-president of people services at Langara College. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the support this initiative has received.”

In a survey conducted last year, 74 per cent of students and staff at Langara were in support of a smoke-free campus. The campus removed its designated smoking areas and went smoke-free on May 1, 2018.

“Going smoke-free is part of our broader goal to promote wellness and this initiative aligns with the international Okanagan Charter, a transformative vision for health promotion in universities and colleges,” said Palmer.

“We are encouraged by the substantial work that Langara College has put into making a smoke-free campus a reality,” said Dr. Réka Gustafson, medical health officer at Vancouver Coastal Health. “There is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke. Thus, creating smoke-free places is important to protecting students and staff from the harms of exposure to second-hand smoke.”

World No Tobacco Day 2018 focuses on the impact tobacco has on the cardiovascular health of people worldwide.

Tobacco use is an important risk factor for the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. The WHO states that despite the known harms of tobacco to heart health, and the availability of solutions to reduce related death and disease, knowledge among large sections of the public that tobacco is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular disease is low.

About Langara College
Located in beautiful Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Langara College provides University, Career, and Continuing Studies education to more than 21,000 students annually. With more than 1,700 courses and 130 programs, Langara’s expansive academic breadth and depth allows students of all ages, backgrounds, and life stages to choose their own educational path. Langara is also known as house of teachings, a name given to it by the Musqueam people on whose unceded traditional territory the College is located.

Learn more. 
Travis Smith
Manager, Public Affairs
Langara College
tsmith@langara.ca
604.323.5733

Tiffany Akins
Communications Leader
Vancouver Coastal Health
tiffany.akins@vch.ca
604.708.528