Purdue limits smoking on campus

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - Three hundred universities nationwide are smoke-free, and now Pudue is moving one step closer.

Take a look around almost any college campus and you'll see plenty of students lighting up. A Purdue University survey shows 16 percent of Purdue University students smoke.

"Compared to the numbers I see outside. That sounds pretty reasonable," said Purdue student Thomas Brown.

But Purdue administrators are cracking down and eliminating smoking on campus outside of designated smoking areas and eliminating all smoking in university vehicles.

The current policy allows smoking as long as students are not within 30 feet of university buildings. Some students agree with the change but are skeptical about how it will be enforced.

"For me I think it is a good thing because smoking has never been good for anyone but I guess it wasn't ever really enforced so it wasn't a big change for anyone," Purdue student Ryan Orozco said.

The University said people who violate the non-smoking rule could be disciplined by the Dean of Students. Students and faculty have until July 1 before the rule goes into effect. Administrators hope this will encourage many to kick the habit. The coordinator of the county's Tobacco-Free Partnership, Tristan Kirby, said there are options for people looking to quit smoking. She said it doesn't happen overnight but it can be done.

"The average person takes five attempts to quit smoking so they should stay positive and know that it's going to be a battle but that each quit attempt that they make is a building block," said Kirby.

Kirby said Indiana now has the second highest number of smokers in the whole country. She reminded Hoosiers on the Great America Smokeout day to at least consider making the life-saving change to kick the habit.

If you need help quitting smoking, there are many options here in Tippecanoe County. Click here for more info. Or, call 765-494-4012 on 1-800-QUIT-NOW.