Tobacco kicked off campus

Widener University is banning all tobacco products from its campus.

Widener University in Wilmington plans to ban smoking on campus. And that’s not all. Additional rules will make it one of the most restrictive bans of any four year college in the region.
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Smokers and chewers will be restricted from using in University buildings – and on its grounds.

Jennifer Ibrahim is a professor at Temple University. She says it’s a positive step toward reducing smoking and chewing.

Ibrahim: Here in Philadelphia, this is the first ban that I know of that’s a complete ban. So there’s no tobacco products, not just no smoking or a limitation from the entrance of a building, but no tobacco products at all, which is pretty significant.

Ibrahim says there may be immediate health care cost savings.

Ibrahim: There are certainly estimates that demonstrate there is a savings because you will not have the same type of exposure to second hand smoke, which could exacerbate colds, particularly now during cold and flu season.

The ban starts July of 2011. Lynn Nelson Rossum is the director of student health services at Widener University. She says the ban’s delay will give time for smokers to start quitting.

Rossum: One of the things we wanted to make sure is we’re providing the population with counseling whether it was group or one on one, which we do. And also nicotine replacement, because research shows if it’s done concurrently there’s a higher success rate or outcome.