As the July 1 date for the start of Syracuse University’s smoke-free campus policy draws closer, the University Wellness Initiative is offering six-week tobacco cessation support groups for free to students over the next several months.

The first of these cessation support groups began on Monday with eight faculty members enrolled. The group will meet weekly until March 2. SU will also be running two more sessions for students this semester, which start Feb. 17 and April 13. Two more sessions for faculty will also start on March 2 and May 26. Cessation is the process of discontinuing tobacco smoking.

The cessation support groups are being run by Cynthia Cary, director of smoking cessation at State University of New York Upstate Medical University. Cary is certified in tobacco treatment by the Mayo Clinic and has signed on for the entire first round of support groups. She is expected to continue working with the University Wellness Initiative for the remainder of the spring 2015 semester and possibly next year.

Gail Grozalis, the executive director of wellness at SU, said no students registered for the first student cessation group.

“I think it may have had something to do with the timing of registration with students just getting back from break,” Grozalis said. Registration closed on Jan. 16.

Grozalis remained optimistic about the program’s future, saying she hoped a group of students would enroll and then encourage others to join by word-of-mouth.

On Nov. 11, 2014, SU announced a new policy that will phase out the use of tobacco products on campus as part of an effort to promote public health. All locations owned or leased by SU in the United States will enforce the policy, with the exceptions of the Carrier Dome, the Sheraton Hotel, Drumlins Country Club and Syracuse Stage. All SU-owned property, including international property, is expected to fully adopt the policy by 2017.

Lazare de Montille, a freshman magazine major, was skeptical about the program’s prospective success among SU students.

“I think it’s just as useful as it could be pointless,” said de Montille. “I think maybe some people will go, but for the majority, the ban on tobacco products won’t foster a want to quit but a sense of rebellion and they’ll just smoke anyway.”

“It’s definitely going to be a process,” Grozalis said of the tobacco ban. “People can choose to quit tobacco or not, but we’ll be there for them when they do.”

She said she believes tobacco cessation programs will be an “ongoing offering” by SU into Fall 2015 and beyond.

Published on January 27, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Thomas: tjbeckle@syr.edu