The University of California has placed a ban on cigarettes and all tobacco products that will be implemented within the next two years. Both students and staff will be prohibited from smoking on the UC campus including outdoor spaces, parking lots, and private residencies. The ban was created in the hopes of reducing exposure to secondhand smoke and lowering the levels of smoking rates among those who work and study on campus. In recent studies it has been found that people are unlikely to start smoking after the age of 24 or 25.
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U.C. President Mark Yudof in a letter to campus chancellors announced,
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“As a national leader in healthcare and environmental practices, the University of California is ready to demonstrate leadership in reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke. […] Offering a smoke-free environment will contribute positively to the health and well-being of all U.C. students, faculty, staff, and our patients and visitors.”
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Unknown is the exact date to which the ban will be implemented and how the policy will be enforced. Each campus is responsible for creating and enforcing its own policies.
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Currently, California has some of the strictest smoking laws in the country.  The stringency of these laws may be directly correlated with California’s low rates of smoking: only 12 percent of Californians smoke while 19.6 percent of people in the United States smoke. Whether or not the smoking ban will lower the current rate of student smokers from 8 percent of UC students will be interesting to watch.
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Sources:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/01/12/BAGJ1MOO9L.DTL
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/university-of-california-bans-smoking_n_1204934.html
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Image Source:
http://www.cigarettesflavours.com/tag/cigarette-packets/
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Berkeley chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.