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Editorial: Right to start early on campus smoking ban

Watching young people light up a cigarette and take a long drag makes us wonder how they can ignore the dangers of smoking.

The message is certainly clear, from the warnings on cigarette packages to the steady drumbeat from health care professionals. Nor does today's culture glamorize smoking as it did decades ago. To the contrary, if you've watched the disturbing public service commercials on TV, or seen people forced by law and public attitudes to huddle outside in subzero weather to puff, smoking is viewed as anything but appealing.

If that's still not enough, many young people have a relative or close family friend who has died from or struggles to survive lung cancer or another smoking-related illness.

What else can be done to get through to them?

Illinois will ban smoking at venues teeming with young people - public college and university campuses - starting on July 1. But several suburban community colleges say there's no reason to wait and will put the ban in place sooner. We applaud those decisions.

Harper College and College of Lake County announced last week their campuswide smoking bans will begin Jan. 1. Elgin Community College will impose its ban March 30. They follow McHenry County College, which has banned smoking on campus since fall of 2011, and College of DuPage, where a ban has been in place since fall of 2012.

"We are not trying to be antagonistic to people," Janet Mason, the chair of CLC's human services and social work department, told the Daily Herald's Katlyn Smith. "We really want them to comply with the policy and to understand that this is for the health and safety of the community."

Students, employees and casual visitors won't be allowed to smoke indoors or outdoors, under the law. The ban also applies to electronic cigarettes. There are some exceptions: Smoking is permitted inside privately owned cars traveling or parked on campus.

The American Cancer Society says most people start smoking as teens. According to the 2012 Surgeon General's Report, very few start smoking after age 25. Nearly 90 percent of adults started by age 18, and 99 percent were smokers by 26.

The campuswide ban could be part of a pre-emptive strike. The health benefits behind it are obvious, but school administrators say getting faculty and staff to quit smoking, too, could reduce health insurance costs. And, students who kick the habit could be more attractive to employers who hire only nonsmokers.

It's a big job persuading young people to snuff out their smokes. Education about the dangers and plenty of support to help students quit certainly will have to be part of the effort, and the legislative ban itself helps emphasize the importance of the goal. Schools that are rushing to comply help the cause, and, true to their mission, educate students about a major threat to their health.

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