U of L Smoking Ban Begins Thursday

The University of Louisville begins its program to go smoke free this week.Starting Thursday, students will only be allowed to smoke in designated areas of its Belknap and Shelby campuses. Those areas will gradually be reduced until smoking is banned entirely in one year.The University of Kentucky is wrapping up a similar program this week.Some students at U of L have complained that the school has not followed through on its promise to provide resources to help smokers quit. Anti-smoking program director Patricia Benson says nicotine patches and gum are already available, and classes will be offered."There are and there always have been. Actually, Karen Newton who directs the student health initiative has always offered support to the students to help them quit smoking," she says. "We want them to enroll [in smoking cessation classes], because we show that the studies and the research show that if you're enrolled in a smoking cessation class, the probability of becoming a non-smoker is increased."U of L’s Health Sciences Campus is already smoke-free.