Because tobacco addiction begins almost exclusively among youth and young adults, and virtually all smokers begin before the age of 26, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health is collaborating with the University of Michigan and the American College Health Association on the national Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative (TFCCI). Dr. Cliff Douglas, director of the University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network, a health policy lecturer in the School of Public Health, and the consulting tobacco control policy advisor for the Assistant Secretary for Health says, “We’re very pleased that the Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative has enjoyed exponential growth.  When we launched the initiative in September 2012, there were 774 colleges and universities that were tobacco or smoke-free, and already the number has risen to more than 1,182 – an extraordinary increase in less than a year. College and university leaders across the country want to make their environments healthier and are responding enthusiastically.”