Northwestern Student Government Votes Down Plan for Tobacco-Free Campus

A proposed resolution to make Northwestern University a tobacco-free campus by the fall of 2016 has been quashed for now.

A 26-16 vote against the resolution by the University’s Associated Student Government on Wednesday put an end to plans to set up a task force by the fall of this year to coordinate the adoption of the policy, according to the Evanston Review.

“I was disappointed,” ASG senator Ross Krasner, one of the resolution’s key sponsors, said of the vote. “I don’t feel like the ASG accurately represented the number of students that support having a tobacco-free campus to create a healthy and safe environment for Northwestern.”

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The resolution, which had the backing of the city of Evanston’s public health department, sought to have Northwestern designated as “a tobacco-free campus,” which differs from a smoke-free policy in that it also bans electronic cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

Currently, smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of an entrance to any building on campus, but otherwise there is not any regulation in regards to smoking.

Proponents of the resolution have vowed to include the entire student body in a fight to include the proposed policy in a referendum next year.

more via the Evanston Review