Jump to full article: The Montana Kaimin (University of Montana, Missoula), 2009-10-21
Author: Story by Carmen George
Intro: The University of Montana is gearing up to become a tobacco-free campus by fall 2011 and it is not alone in its effort to ban tobacco products on school grounds — 172 other college campuses across the nation have done the same thing.
And not just colleges are taking such initiatives.
Designating tobacco-free grounds is becoming a “mega-trend,” said Clare Lemke, coordinator of the Montana Tobacco Free Medical Campus Project that helped four local hospitals go tobacco-free on Oct. 1.
“When I started this position in fall of 2007, there were three hospitals with tobacco-free campuses and by the end of November (there will be) 30,” Lemke said. “That’s just about half of the hospitals in the state.”
Along with the 172 tobacco-free university campuses nationwide, there are at least another 322 smoke-free campuses, said Julee Stearns, UM health promotion specialist and chair of the UM Tobacco Task Force that drafted the University’s tobacco-free plan. These tobacco-free university and hospital campuses serve as models for UM’s plan.
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