MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — July will bring the start of a new tobacco policies to West Virginia University and Marshall University.
Beginning next month, no tobacco use by anyone will be allowed anywhere on campus property. Smoking previously was prohibited in campus buildings at WVU. The policy change will extend the tobacco ban to all campus spaces owned, occupied, leased or operated through the university.
WVU Associate Provost C.B. Wilson, himself a former smoker, said it will be an adjustment for some students and employees.
“I know that, for some of them, it’s going to be a tough road,” he said. “Earlier in my life, I was smoking three packs a day. My wife and I went cold turkey. It was very hard. We were able to overcome that.”
Wilson said the hope is others will use the new policy — which WVU’s Board of Governors first approved last June — as an opportunity to quit.
Students who violate the policy would face discipline up to and including expulsion. Employee violators could be fired.
Wilson said there will be time allowed for the change to take hold. “It’s going to take a while for this to become part of the culture. We understand that,” he said.
There will be few exceptions, such as designated smoking areas at Milan Puskar Stadium and the WVU Coliseum, said Wilson. The policy allows for exceptions to be made on a case-by-case basis.
At Marshall University, a new ban on tobacco products will also take effect on July 1.
Marshall’s Board of Governors approved the policy change, which will apply to all indoor and outdoor spaces, earlier this week. Exceptions could also be made in Huntington for large events.
Wilson was a guest on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”