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Colleges becoming major battleground in war on tobacco

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    Claudia Cowan reports from San Francisco, California

  • Duration 2:14
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Colleges are becoming the latest battleground in the fight against smoking that's -- the number of schools instituting a complete ban on tobacco.

Really skyrocketing.

It's a battle that some see as an attack on personal freedom now Claudia count is why.

San Francisco hi Claudia.

Hi Greg that's right today more than ever the war on tobacco is being waged on campus.

774.

Universities and colleges have strictly limited where students and staff can light up.

And more than 560.

Have banned tobacco use altogether.

They're not saying you can't ever smoke what they're saying is you can't smoke in ways it would harm other people and that's -- campus policies applied to indoors and dollars.

While no one wants to breathe unhealthy air many students and faculty members argue lighting up helps them relax -- focus.

Even many nonsmokers say all out bans go too far.

They smoking ban in just represents another in a long line of steps.

By the state and local governments to try and unnecessarily restrict -- behavior and I think that summing it should -- not be tolerated in a free society.

This year alone more than 125 campuses have snuffed out smoking and dozens more will soon do so.

California's public universities including UC Berkeley will be smoke free by -- -- -- fourteen.

Two -- -- it's another example of what he calls political correctness run -- -- But there's other restrictions are trying to impose on plastic water bottles and plastic bags and I think that he is just where does this stop.

Supporters point to studies that show most lifelong smokers started -- happen as young adults.

And that has centers of higher learning colleges have a responsibility to help people quit or never light up in the first place.

But Greg critics wonder when colleges became an arm of the surgeon general's office and the open air on campus became the domain of non smokers only back to -- Wow you know Claudia I'm really dating myself -- in the seventies I remember we used to be able to smoke in class.

As long as the professor smoked in sin and it was okay back and so things.

Yeah at times have certainly changed what is sure -- all right Claudia Cowan who's probably never some.

Thank you very much.

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