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It's a drag: University of Houston wants to ban smoking on campus, but is itabout health or money?
The University of Houston is the latest Texas institution of higher education that is considering a smoking ban on campus, following a threat by the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to cut off future grant funding.
UH has received upwards of $6.8 million from CPRIT over the past several years to fund cancer research.
A tobacco-free proposal was put forth by university officials during the summer break. The Student Government Association asserted their disapproval of the stringent rules in "A Resolution on an Updated Tobacco Policy" in July, and students have continued to push back since the start of the fall semester.
The University of Houston isn't the first university to attempt to put a stop to smoking on its grounds: The University of Texas at Austin instituted a tobacco-free policy in February under financial pressure from CPRIT, and on Aug. 31 Rice University set up 13 designated smoking areas on campus to be in compliance with the institute's grant rules.
Watch a full KHOU report on the issue below:
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