On September 1st, the University of Oregon officially became a Smoke and Tobacco Free University. This is the first time a public university in the State of Oregon has established this rule.
It did not take long, however, for students to find ways to get around this ordinance. Because the University of Oregon does not own city streets, streets bordering the campus have become a popular location for students to smoke. “We are working with the city. The city is actually looking to go smoke and tobacco free as well on their side walks, streets and in parks and things like that, so we’re working with the city right now to see to address some of those issue,” said Marci Torress, the Director of Healthy Campus Initiative.
Ten cities and two counties in Oregon have already prohibited smoking in public areas. The University of Oregon and Lane County are hoping to work together to create a smoke and tobacco free community. Lane County has made no official plans to implement a smoking ban.