UC Davis Smoking, Tobacco, E-Cigarette Ban Starts in Four Months

UC Davis students might want to consider using the next 141 days to kick the habit.

Starting Jan. 1, 2014, they won't be able to smoke anywhere on campus: All UC schools are implementing a ban on cigarettes, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes and other forms of tobacco.

"Offering a smoke-free environment will contribute positively to the health and well-being of all UC students, faculty, staff, and our patients and visitors," UC President Mark G. Yudof said in a 2012 letter announcing the plan to chancellors.

Comments on an April article from UC Berkeley's student newspaper called the inclusion of e-cigarettes in the ban "madness" and "idiotic nannyism," saying many smokers use the devices to help quit.

The UC Davis website devoted to the new smoking ban defends the policy:

"E-cigarettes are included in the policy because to date, there have been no rigorous, peer-reviewed studies conducted that prove e-cigarettes are a safe and effective nicotine replacement therapy," the website states. "We realize many smokers have used e-cigarettes to assist them in their efforts to quit smoking; however both the US Food & Drug Administration and the World Health Organization (WHO) have publicly discouraged the use of e-cigarettes."

The ban also applies at more than a dozen housing properties rented from the school, as well as off-campus research properties and other locations listed here. 

If smokers break the new rules, they'll get a reminder, but the university has the option of imposing a fee later on.

Current UC Davis policy bans smoking 25 feet from doorways, seating areas, courtyards and other areas.

Smoking is banned in the city of Davis within 20 feet of doorways or windows "except while passing on the way to another destination."

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