No-smoking policy on UI campus takes effect Jan. 1

For Illini tailgaters, some things are sacred.
The grill. The beer (shhh, don't tell). The orange and blue tent (or bus). And the right to enjoy an occasional — very occasional, of late — victory cigar.
In future seasons, they'll have to do it on the sly.
The entire UI campus — indoors and out — is going smoke-free Jan. 1. And that means no more smoking at tailgates. Or in your car or anywhere else on UI property.
That news did not sit well with some fans at the final home game of the season Nov. 30.
"I think it's kind of silly, in an environment like this," said Chris Roegge of Urbana, puffing on his last legal tailgate cigar.
"I can understand in and around buildings, or central campus," said Roegge, who is also a UI employee. "But how do they enforce something like that?"
For fellow tailgater and occasional cigar smoker Dan Tappendorf of Champaign, it's more fundamental.
"Have you ever heard of the word liberty? He's not hurting anybody," he said. "I think the political correctness has gone too far. Everybody should have the freedom to find their own pursuit of happiness."
The campus already prohibits smoking inside public buildings, except for designated hotel rooms, and within 25 feet of a building entrance. State law is similar, with a 15-foot outdoor restriction.
It's not uncommon to find employees or students huddled outside the UI Library, Foreign Language Building or Illini Union, taking a puff between classes or on break. Cigarette butts scattered on the ground tell the tale. The new policy will ban smoking from all university property — on the Quad, in Memorial Stadium or at athletic or entertainment events. Designated smoking areas will be eliminated.
It also bans e-cigarettes, which emit water vapor rather than smoke. They're used by some smokers to try to quit, with gradually reduced nicotine levels.
Campus officials say the industry is relatively new and unregulated, which puts users at risk. And some studies have shown that the vapor contains a similar carcinogen to tobacco smoke. The CDC and other public health organizations discourage their use, said Michele Guerra, director of the UI Wellness Center.
"We don't know enough about their risks," she said.
The anti-tobacco road
The UI effort is part of a growing smoke-free movement nationally and a push by UI students locally. In a 2011 nonbinding referendum, UI students voted in favor of a smoke-free campus, 7,123 to 3,231. The campus announced the new policy in October 2012.
It was originally set to take effect in November, but "we didn't want to hit people right before finals," said campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler.
Chancellor Phyllis Wise has said the UI wants to ensure a healthy environment for the entire campus community, citing "incontrovertible evidence that smoking is a dangerous addiction" and that second-hand smoke poses risks for nonsmokers. Pall Mall cigarettes.
Smoking is a particular concern for students, advocates say. A 2012 Surgeon General's report found that tobacco use among youths 12 to 17 and young adults ages 18 to 25 had decreased but was still at epidemic proportions. Among its findings: Nearly nine out of 10 smokers started smoking by age 18; 99 percent started by age 26; and almost no one starts smoking after age 25.
The American College Health Association has urged campuses to adopt stricter policies in 2009, and in 2012 the Department of Health and Human Services partnered with the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation to launch a Tobacco-Free College Campus Initiative.
With the trend toward smoke-free workplaces, restaurants and bars, there's greater awareness among the public about the benefits, said Cynthia Hallett, director of the foundation. More cities and states are going smoke-free, but not all of those laws apply to college campuses, so universities are enacting their own policies, she said.
More than 1,100 college campuses are now smoke-free, or about 25 percent, according to the foundation. The list includes universities from power football conferences — Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas and South Carolina as well as two Big Ten schools, Michigan and Iowa. Indiana is close, allowing only minor exceptions with the approval of the provost, and Minnesota is set to enact a similar policy in 2014.
Other Big Ten schools restrict smoking indoors and place some limits on outdoor smoking.
Some say their campuses are too sprawling for a complete ban.
"If we were going to have a no-smoking policy anywhere on campus, it would be almost impossible to enforce," said Annemarie Mountz, assistant director of public information at Penn State.
That's the big question at the UI.