Western Kentucky University will gradually become tobacco free; last public university in Kentucky to do so

Western Kentucky University will slowly go tobacco-free by 2018 through a phased-in approach, becoming the last public university in the state to do so, Lisa Autry reports for WKU Public Radio.

“Although I’ve never smoked, I know how addictive nicotine is, and I think it gives people the opportunity to get help with cessation and to change habits they need to change anyway,” Cecilia Watkins, a WKU professor of public health who helped draft the policy, told Autry.

The new policy will begin in January, when WKU will decrease the number of designated smoking areas on its main Bowling Green campus to 12 from 48. It will continue to reduce the number of sites over the next three years until the campus is completely tobacco-free. The policy will also apply to electronic cigarettes, Autry reports.