University of Nebraska
© Lincoln Journal-Star
Smoking, tobacco and vaping products will no longer be allowed on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus beginning Jan. 1, a move prompted by a student-led initiative.

A survey conducted by the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska showed wide support for blanket restrictions on UNL property. Nearly 84 percent of students and 88 percent of faculty said they supported a ban.

Under the policy, cigarettes, cigars, pipes, hookahs, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, marijuana and synthetic smoking products are banned on campus, including parking lots and garages, in campus buildings, and in vehicles "owned, leased, occupied, operated, maintained or otherwise controlled by the University."

UNL will allow the use of "nicotine-replacement therapy" products approved by the Food and Drug Administration for smoking cessation.

There are some exceptions to the new policy.

Smoking or the use of tobacco in ceremonial or theatrical performances will be permitted with advance approval, as will use of any products for medical or scientific research.

Enforcing the policy will largely rest "with the individual."

"If someone is observed in violation of the policy, they will be asked to dispose of the tobacco product," the policy states.

UNL joins more than 1,700 universities that have banned the use of smoking products on their campuses, according to Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. It also becomes among the last members of the Big Ten Conference to do so.