Falling in line
Butts out: University of Houston bans smoking, joining a research dollar driven health kick
Less than a year after Rice University ramped up its tobacco-free policy, the University of Houston announced it will ban smoking starting June 1.
Kathryn Peek, UH Assistant Vice President for Health Initiatives, tells KUHF's Laurie Johnson that the university will designate 20 smoking areas across its 600-acre main campus and nearby Energy Research Park. The tobacco zones (here's a map) look to be phased out by summer 2014.
The adverse effects of cigarettes account for an estimated 443,000 annual deaths, or nearly one of every five.
"We do know this is going to be inconvenient for a small percent of our campus," Peek says. "And we do want to help them get to the point where they can get through the day comfortably."
Universities across the state have been initiating strict smoking bans after the embattled Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas introduced a rule in 2012 demanding that grant recipients limit tobacco use to receive research dollars. Since 2010, UH has garnered more than $9 million in CPRIT grants.
The University of Texas and its $88 million in research funding kicked off a smoking ban in February 2012. Rice University, Texas A&M and Texas Tech all have followed suit.
As per this cool interactive map from the Center for Disease Control, roughly 15.8 percent of Texas adults smoke, the 18th lowest state smoking rate in the nation. To put the numbers in perspective, West Virginia takes the cake with 26.8 percent of its residents smokers while health-conscious California has 12.1 percent. With its heavy Mormon population — which typically abstains from tobacco on religious grounds — Utah has the lowest percentage with 9.1.
According to the CDC, smoking remains the nation's largest preventable cause of disease. The adverse effects of cigarettes account for an estimated 443,000 annual deaths, or nearly one of every five.
