Hawaii-2013-HCR103-Introduced

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States, with tobacco-related diseases resulting in $96,000,000,000 in health care costs annually; and

WHEREAS, the 2012 United States Surgeon General's Report states that tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke are serious public health concerns and that there is no safe level of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke; and

WHEREAS, the American College Health Association acknowledges and supports the findings of the Surgeon General that tobacco use in any form, active or passive, is a significant health hazard on college campuses and should be prohibited; and

WHEREAS, on September 12, 2012, United States Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. Howard Koh; University of Michigan President, Mary Sue Coleman; and tobacco policy experts and educational leaders announced the official kick-off of the national Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative at a symposium at the University of Michigan School of Public Health; and

WHEREAS, according to a list created by the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, seven hundred sixty-six colleges and universities in the United States already prohibit smoking and all forms of tobacco use everywhere on campus with no exceptions, including the University of Arkansas, all universities in the University of California system, the University of Florida, the University of Guam, the University of Kentucky, the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, the University of Michigan, the University of Montana, the University of North Dakota, all public universities in the state of Oklahoma, and the University of Oregon, but not including any institution of higher education in Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, part of the mission of the University of Hawaii system is to "ensure the survival of present and future generations with improvement in the quality of life"; and

WHEREAS, allowing smoking and tobacco use on University of Hawaii campuses presents substantial fiscal burdens for employee health care costs, absenteeism, turnover, physical facilities upkeep, fire risks and losses, and litter control, and imposes adverse impacts on the surrounding land and water environments contrary to the University of Hawaii system's commitments and core values concerning malama ‘aina sustainability; and

WHEREAS, section 302A-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, prohibits the use of tobacco at all Hawaii public schools or at public functions at all times; and

WHEREAS, therefore, most students now attending the University of Hawaii have graduated from schools where tobacco use was prohibited and have come to expect tobacco-free educational facilities as the norm; and

WHEREAS, the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii at Manoa passed Senate Resolution 05-12 in February 2012 calling upon the University of Hawaii at Manoa administration to prohibit smoking and all forms of tobacco use everywhere throughout the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus, and the Manoa Faculty Senate voted to support the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii at Manoa Senate Resolution 05-12 in March 2012; and

WHEREAS, in 2006, the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii passed a smoke-free workplaces law (Act 295, Session Laws of Hawaii 2006), but the University of Hawaii's policy on tobacco products, executive policy E10.102, was last updated over ten years ago, prior to the enactment of that law and of section 302A-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes (smoke-free public schools);

WHEREAS, therefore, executive policy E10.102 not only severely lags behind subsequent changes in state law, but also behind community norms and attitudes with regards to tobacco use; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, the Senate concurring, that University of Hawaii administration is encouraged to take prompt action to prohibit smoking and the use of any tobacco products by all persons including students, faculty, staff, contractors, and visitors on all campuses and campus facilities owned or operated by the University of Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii administration is requested to take prompt action to effectively implement policies to make all University of Hawaii campuses tobacco-free, including posting adequate signage clearly notifying all persons of the University's tobacco-free policy and carrying out a public information campaign to enable smooth implementation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Hawaii administration is encouraged to carry out the provisions of executive policy E10.102(D), which calls upon university administrators to create and implement meaningful plans to discourage the initiation of tobacco product use and the transition from occasional to nicotine-dependent tobacco product use, and to assist the substantial number of tobacco product users who are trying to quit; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the President of the University of Hawaii and the Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Tobacco Free UH

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	103
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII