Ban Smoking on Campuses, Say SUNY Officials

NEW YORK—The State University New York Board of Trustees passed a resolution Tuesday in support of banning smoking on all SUNY campuses.

“By establishing a policy that will prohibit the use of tobacco among our 468,000 students and 88,000 employees on campuses across New York, we will have a positive impact on their health and that of our visitors,” Board Chairman H. Carl McCall said in a release.

A January 2007 policy banned smoking indoors on SUNY campuses and in vehicles owned or leased by the university system.

SUNY’s 64 campuses across the state include the University of Buffalo, Westchester Community College, and the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan.

Though the resolution supports legislation to ban smoking on campuses, a press spokesperson confirmed the legislation doesn’t exist yet. “The board was authorizing working with the Legislature to create legislation,” he said.

Those aged 18-24 have the highest smoking rate of all adults, according to the SUNY release, and smoking raises the risk of fires in campus buildings and dormitories.

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