Ringing in 2012 meant a new year, a new semester of school and even a fresh start. For the 10 University of California campuses, January 2012 marks the beginning of a new law on all the campuses: a smoke-free zone.
Over the next two years, every University of California campus will be smoke free, banning all smoking and tobacco sales and even advertisements on school property.
According to the Los Angeles Times, UC president, Mark G. Yudof, said the university should follow the smoking ban policies that the UC Medical Center and over 500 university campuses across the United States have already established.
While each campus will be creating their own particular policy, the Los Angeles Times also reported that the UC’s chief risk officer, Grace Crickette, said that the main goal for the ban is to continue in a positive and healthy direction.
In terms of moving forward in a more healthy direction, the percentage of smokers on the University of California campuses is lower than the national average already, according to ABC News Los Angeles. With only 8 percent of UC students and 10 percent of the UC faculty who actually smoke, the smoking ban will not be a complete change for the UC campuses, but it may continue the trend for other campuses and public areas to create smoke-free zones.
University of Illinois student, Lindsey Beyer believes that the UIUC campus should become smoke-free.
“As an athlete living on campus, I wholly support the smoking ban. Running downwind from a smoker is nearly intolerable. There are also students, myself included, who get migraines and allergic reactions when exposed to smoke,” said Beyer.
Beyer said she started to become involved with the possible ban on campus through Facebook, where the initial petition began.
“I was immediately interested, and followed the link to the voting site, where I voted in favor of the ban. It is obvious that a decision this big cannot be made quickly, and I understand that the people making this decision need to move carefully in order to please everyone as much as possible,” she said.
Beyer believes that everyone should be happy on the UIUC campus, however a smoke-free campus would be beneficial.
“Society is well aware of the dangerous effects of cigarettes, and I believe it is essential to at least develop designated smoking areas out of respect for non-smokers. A smoke free campus would be a healthier place for the entire student body. Smokers may be upset about this news, however they could also find themselves smoking less, spending less, and possibly even quitting. No real harm can come from the smoking ban – even the students who will be upset at first will benefit,” she said.
With the University of California declaring this on all 10 of their campuses, Beyer hopes the number of universities, also look into passing this law.
“As more schools realize the smoking problems on their campus, and the magnitude of student smokers who began smoking in college, I believe the administrations will be increasingly interested in the smoking ban for the general health and safety of their entire campuses, Beyer said.”