Smoke-Free Campus Modified by Students

For over a year now there have been a series of ongoing discussions concerning UR’s smoking policy. Within the past semester, however, junior Sheridan Finnie and seniors Sara Rothenberg and Catie Tarentine, who are leading the initiative, have begun to push for one which would outline a plan for a smoke-free campus save for a number of designated areas in which smoking would be allowed. Under the guidance of Director of the University Health Service Ralph Manchester and Associate Director of Health Promotion Linda Dudman, Finnie, Rothenberg and Tarentine initially aimed to implement a policy that would designate UR as entirely smoke free with no designated smoking areas, but after receiving feedback from students, faculty and staff, decided this new direction would make for a policy that would accommodate a larger majority of the University community.

Smuggled Tobacco Sales Decreased, the North East News

Less illegal tobacco is being sold in the North East, health campaigners have revealed. A survey carried out in 2009 and then again in 2011 showed that more than £36 million has been saved across the region in duty and tax as sales of illegal tobacco have fallen. The same survey showed that sales of the illegal goods had fallen by 39 per cent during the two year period.

South Georgia No-Smoking Policy

Some south Georgia public housing residents will soon have put out their cigarettes at home. The Lee County Housing Authority Board approved a new no-smoking policy for all 98 units in Leesburg and Smithville. Albany Housing Authority leaders told us they'll consider the same policy for their more than one thousand properties in the coming months. The Lee Board says health, safety, and maintenance concerns are behind the new rule.

Staffordshire Hospital Smoke-Free

A smoking ban is being dropped at Staffordshire's biggest hospital because it is being flouted by so many patients and visitors. Four shelters for people to light up will now be provided at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire. They include one outside its cancer centre, where people being treated for the disease continue smoking. Another is planned for the maternity unit after heavily pregnant women were spotted with cigarettes by the front door.

Apartment Smoking Ban, Santa Monica Tobacco Use News

Lighting up—tobacco and medical marijuana—will be banned in new apartments, and residents of current units forced to disclose to their neighbors whether they smoke under an ordinance that won initial approval from the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday night. Gleam Davis—one of five council members who supported the ban—said she wanted fewer people to smoke. Others said they want to make apartment hunting easier for people with asthma, families with children and other potential residents trying to reduce their own exposure to second-hand smoke, which can easily drift between units.