No Smoking On Campus: More Schools Ban Tobacco Products

June 14, 2010— -- In less than one month, students at the University of Florida who smoke or use other tobacco products will have to find a way to go without them -- at least while they're on campus.

UF is implementing a tobacco-free policy on July 1, and it's part of a nationwide trend. In 2005, there were just 18 smoke-free colleges — now there are 394, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation. That number is continuing to grow. Other colleges that will implement a tobacco-free policy this July include the University of Central Oklahoma, Northwestern Michigan College and Widener University in Pennsylvania. Starting this August, all public universities in Arkansas will become smoke-free. Violators could be fined anywhere from $100 to $500.

Once a smoking or tobacco policy is in place, the issue becomes how to enforce it. UF's current policy states that people cannot smoke within 50 feet of any building on campus. However, 24-year-old UF Graduate James Smith often takes his smoking breaks right outside his workplace on UF's campus. He is usually about five feet from the building. People sometimes approach Smith and remind him of the smoking policy, but he doesn't listen.

"I just smile and keep smoking," Smith said. "There's not much they can really do. My bosses get on me about it, but if I'm on break, I'm not on the clock. They can't really do anything to me."

He says when the tobacco ban is implemented on UF's campus in July, he's not going to stop smoking on campus — unless the enforcement becomes more strict.

"If they actually hand out tickets … it's not worth it," Smith said.

That's exactly what Santa Rosa Junior College in California started doing when many students refused to comply with the tobacco-free policy. Although a community service officer would sometimes issue verbal warnings to students who violated the policy, it wasn't working. Students started showing up to student senate meetings, complaining of an area on campus where some people were still smoking.

"It was really heavily foot-trafficked, so no matter where you went you had to go through the section," said Santa Rosa Junior College Student Amanda Swan. "It was causing pretty much everyone to breathe it in."