Last summer, the University at Buffalo banned smoking on its three campuses. Last month, Columbia University approved a measure that prohibits smoking within 20 feet of buildings.

And on Monday, the trustees of the City University of New York, the largest urban higher-education system in the country, voted to forbid smoking on all 23 of its campuses, from the College of Staten Island to Lehman College in the Bronx.

CUNY’s move is the latest in a wave of comprehensive smoking bans on college campuses nationwide, a trend that began about five years ago and has gathered momentum in recent months. The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, reported this month that at least 466 campuses had completely banned smoking or passed resolutions to do so.

ublicP health experts feel that the campus antismoking rules send an important early message to young people about healthy lifestyles.

CUNY officials, who estimate that 13 percent of their students, faculty members and staff members smoke tobacco, noted that the ban was prompted in part by the recent creation of the university’s School of Public Health. Campuses will have until September 2012 to impose the rules, allowing them time to mount educational campaigns, post no-smoking signs and provide counselors trained in helping smokers quit.

Some of CUNY’s most urban colleges, like Hunter and Baruch in Manhattan, may not notice much of a difference, since the university cannot prohibit smoking on public sidewalks. The ban will be felt more on campuses with ample green space between buildings, like City College, Queens College, College of Staten Island and Lehman College.

If city officials have their way, large swaths of the five boroughs will soon join the CUNY campuses. City Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer sponsored a bill in September that would ban smoking in 1,700 parks and along 14 miles of beaches. On Monday, she said that the mayoral and Council staffs were still working on the final details, but that the measure could go before the Council for a vote next month.

(Source: NY Times)