Towson University To Prohibit All Smoking On Campus

By Matt McCleskey

Towson University in Maryland is banning all smoking on campus. Smoking is already banned inside buildings at Towson, but the expanded ban that will go into effect next August will prohibit lighting up anywhere on campus grounds. Administrators say the policy will reduce health risks from smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke and cut health costs associated with smoking.

To prepare, the school's health center will be offering free assessments for smokers who want to quit and free classes on smoking cessation in partnership with the Baltimore County Department of Health. Towson will be the first four-year college in Maryland with a total smoking ban, although last year Montgomery College became the state's first institute of higher education to prohibit smoking.