The University of California plans to ban smoking on all 10 of its campuses by 2014, prohibiting both cigarettes and chewing tobacco on campus grounds, including parking lots and private residences.
The ban will be implemented in stages to help ease smokers into the new system, but by 2014 the anti-smoking rules will be strictly enforced.
The UC ban also makes it against the rules to advertise any tobacco products on campus, including e-cigarettes and other smokeless tobacco options.
The campuses will also begin selling products to help students and faculty quit smoking, such as nicotine gum and patches.
The main reason for the new policy is to reduce student and faculty exposure to secondhand smoke, but the university also hopes that it will reduce the amount of smokers in the student population by helping them quit.
Currently, the Cal State University system has no plans of implementing a similar policy on their 23 campuses. The decision to ban smoking is left to each individual CSU campus to decide on its own.
The current policy at Cal State Long Beach is the basic smoking policy that was passed by the Board of Trustees in 2002 in response to a student group called C.O.U.G.H. or Campuses Organized and United for Good Health. The policy states that no student or faculty member is permitted to smoke while within 20 feet of any building or ventilation system.
Smokers on campus had mixed reactions to the news.
“I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” said Jim Keatizng, a sophomore criminal justice major. “I wouldn’t be happy about it if they banned it here, but it’s probably a good idea.”
Senior economics major Sean Kim said he doesn’t think it’s right for anyone to decide whether or not he can smoke.
“There should still be designated smoking areas,” Kim said. “I always make sure that I’m 20 feet away from a building before I smoke.”
CSU spokesperson Erik Fallis said every campus has the authority to change the rules as long as it observes the minimum policy.
“We follow the minimum requirements, but the state law allows campuses to strengthen their policy or even ban it altogether,” Fallis said.
Emory University in Atlanta recently implemented a similar policy on Jan. 1, which banned all smoking on campus, even in privately owned vehicles. This means that as soon as students enter campus property while smoking, even in their cars, they are breaking the rules. So far, the disciplinary measures for a student found smoking have not been decided.
UC officials believe that the decision will be left to each campus. The UC system plans to work out the specifics of the new policy over the next two years.
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