The University of Missouri’s policy to make its campus completely smoke free is on track to start on July 1st.
The policy came about from a student-run movement that called for the change and several organizations around campus support the ban.
The MU Wellness Resource Center’s tobacco cessation coordinator Tiffany Bowman says that the center is prepared to help if people decide to quit smoking when the ban goes into effect. “Our role is to help people quit smoking, if they need assistance with that,” she said. “We’ve had several hundred people that have come in and sought cessation services …”
But, not everyone is in favor of the smoking ban.
Gerald Scott of Chicago, who was visiting campus this week, disagrees with the policy. He says people should decide on their own whether or not to smoke. “I mean I guess that’s the push right now,” he says. “I guess that’s the move of the times to be healthier, to live longer but I figure if it is something that is a vice of yours that’s something you have to deal with on your own personally.”
A survey conducted by the MU Student Health Center’s Health Promotions found that five percent of MU students smoke daily and that another 17 percent have smoked within the last 30 days.
