The 23 CUNY campuses that banned smoking in January have prestigious company. Barnard has tweaked its smoking policy and is now going to be "a smoke-free campus," effective March 21. According to an e-mail sent to students yesterday the change "is the result of regular requests from various members of the College community to complete a process we started in 2004 when we first limited outdoor smoking on campus."
Previously Barnard had cut its smoking on campus down to two designated smoking areas.
Barnard's ban comes as the City Council and the Mayor have banned smoking in public beaches and parks—which maybe John Lennon would have liked? And like that ban—which even Bloomberg admitted would be difficult if not impossible to enforce—Barnard seems aware of how tricky the full ban will be to enforce, while also acknowledging that "for smokers this change is less than ideal."
And are the kids ok with this news? Depends on who you ask. The Spectator found arguments for the ban (one girl with a respiratory problem seems very happy) and against (another girl told the student paper that a recent survey of students that showed few smokers was wrong, “There’s a big smoke culture around here.”)
So basically, if you want to smoke at Barnard after March 21, you best be walking over to Broadway. And when you do that, the school asks "that you remain mindful of your proximity to office and dormitory windows, and to those passing by."
In the meantime, light 'em if you got 'em. Just in the not-long-for-this-world designated smoking areas, ok?
