University of Regina cracks down on smoking

It's going to become a lot more difficult to find a place to smoke on the University of Regina campus this fall.

In September, the university will only allow smoking at three outdoor smoking areas. Currently, there are 19 smoking areas at the university's two campuses.

"We want to have a university that is focused on the health [and] safety of those people who study, work and live on campus," said U of R spokesperson Darren Cherwaty. "We understand that the use of tobacco products and smoking have major health effects."

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The new rules will also ban the sale or advertising of tobacco products on campus. As well, smokers won't be allowed to light up inside their cars if they're parked on campus.

"It's certainly something that we saw as important," said Cherwaty. "Our parking lots are quite busy areas, and our efforts to try and limit the exposure to second-hand smoke resulted in that direction."

The remaining three smoking areas will all be located near university residences.

Tobacco will still be allowed to be used in traditional Indigenous ceremonies.

While Cherwaty admits the policy may be unpopular, he hoped that staff and students access smoking cessation programs.

"We've tried to be as sensitive as possible," he said. "At the same time, we believe this is a positive step for our campus in moving in this direction."

The policy comes into effect Sept. 1.