AP – University of Montana proposes campus tobacco ban

MISSOULA, Mont. — The University of Montana is proposing a campus-wide ban on all forms of tobacco, though students and staff would have nearly two years to quit before it’s enforced.

The Associated Students of the University of Montana Senate endorsed the ban and President George Dennison recently sent an e-mail informing faculty, staff and students of the proposal.

The ban would take effect in the fall of 2011.

The University of Montana and other Montana campuses already have a 25-foot nonsmoking perimeter around building entrances, but a study by the UM Tobacco Task Force found that nearly two-thirds of smokers were violating that regulation.

The ban includes smokeless tobacco because just banning smoking would give students the message that it’s safer to use other forms of tobacco, she said.

The proposal does not spell out penalties for violating the ban, but two years of education and forewarning will be more effective, Green said.

“When the time actually comes, you won’t have many people breaking the policy,” she said. “But we will not have people out there handing out tickets.”

The new policy targets the same people that the cigarette companies are targeting: 18- to 24-year-olds, Green said.

Montana Tech in Butte plans to go tobacco-free on July 1, year 2010, while Montana State University in Bozeman has proposed a similar ban.

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