Schools

UCLA Campus Goes Tobacco-Free

The policy bans the use of all tobacco products, along with electronic cigarettes, at the university.

The UCLA campus is officially a smoke- and tobacco-free zone.

Taking effect Monday, on Earth Day, the policy bans the use of all tobacco products, along with electronic cigarettes, on the UCLA campus and at any sites owned or leased by the university.

"Tobacco use and exposure to second-hand smoke remain the leading causes of preventable disease and death worldwide," Chancellor Gene Block wrote in an October letter to the UCLA community. "We also plan to ensure that tobacco users in our community have access to a variety of free and low-cost support services, in addition to those provided by health insurance, to help them."

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According to UCLA, the university was the first in the UC system to announce plans to ban tobacco products, although more than 800 colleges across the country have enacted similar policies. UC President Mark Yudof previously requested that all campuses in the system adopt a tobacco-free policy.

Linda Sarna, a UCLA nursing professor and chair of the campus' Academic Senate, said tobacco bans on other university campuses have led to an increase in the number of people who quit smoking.

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"The world is changing," she said. "People didn't used to wear seat belts or bike helmets, and they used to smoke in airplanes and restaurants. But we know more than we did in the 1950s and we have to act. We have a responsibility to the health of our campus, and this is the right thing to do."

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