More Colleges Adopt Smoking Bans

A growing number of U.S. colleges are adopting smoking bans. The Christian Science Monitor reports that many schools have adopted total bans, both indoors and out.

On Monday, the Ohio Board of Regents recommended a total ban on tobacco products at the state’s public colleges. In June, the University of Maryland announced all 12 of its institutions will become smoke free by July 2013. At schools in the City University of New York system, the use and advertising of tobacco will not be allowed beginning in September.

The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation reports that as of July 1, 2012, there are at least 774 campuses that are 100 percent smoke free. According to the National Center for Tobacco Policy, between one-third and one-half of colleges in the United States have likely implemented a smoke-free policy, or are considering one.

The American College Health Association conducted a survey in the spring of 2011 that found 85 percent of college students described themselves as non-smokers, and 96 percent said they never used smokeless tobacco.

On most college campuses with smoking bans, the consequences for smoking are often nonexistent or minimal, the article notes. Sometimes repeat offenders will face university disciplinary measures, which vary from school to school. The policies generally are enforced by other students, who do not want to be around cigarette smoke.