Dear Commons Community,

Last night, at its January meeting, the CUNY Board of Trustees passed a resolution banning smoking anywhere on CUNY property including outdoor spaces.  The NY Times is reporting that banning smoking on college campuses is a trend that began about five years ago and has gathered momentum in recent months. The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, reported this month that at least 466 campuses had completely banned smoking or passed resolutions to do so.  CUNY campuses have until September 2012 to implement the new policy.  CUNY’s Executive Vice Chancellor Alexandra Logue  said the new restrictions could impel smokers to give up the habit. “The more you can remove cues in the environment that are associated with that addiction, the less craving the smoker will feel.”

Tony