DU has developed a new task force that is investigating the possibility of a smoke free campus.

The Tobacco Taskforce, funded by the Colorado Collegiate Tobacco Prevention Initiative, a government grant, will conduct a survey in May of student opinions on smoking policies and their effectiveness on campus.

The survey will be spearheaded by the Health and Counseling Center [HCC].

Definitive initiatives will be put forward after survey results are compiled.

Several tobacco-prevention initiatives are under discussion by the task force, a coalition of DU administrators who are exploring initiatives aimed at preventing students from picking up tobacco addictions, helping young people quit tobacco use and promoting efforts to reduce campus exposure to secondhand smoke, according to Katie Dunker, assistant director for health promotion at the HCC.

Policies tightening restrictions on smoking at DU are still in the early discussion stages, and at present there is no time line for implementation.

“It is too early to say what changes might take place in the long run here at DU. We’re simply looking into what might be best for the University of Denver regarding tobacco policy changes,” Dunker said.

Student surveys taken last spring indicated that most students were not aware of the current policy, which sets a 25-foot perimeter around DU buildings.

All campus buildings are smoke free per Colorado law.

“The majority of students did not know DU had a perimeter policy.

“We began to look into how we could better educate students and employees about this policy so that we could potentially reduce second hand exposure to tobacco smoke on campus,” Dunker said.

Similar initiatives are under discussion at the University of Colorado to limit smoking on campus to specified ‘smoking zones’ Michael Carrigan, a member of the CU Board of Regents who floated a smoke-free resolution at CU, said.

“This is a national trend. More and more universities are going smoke free, and I think that is something that the University of Colorado should think about doing in the coming years,” Carrigan said.

However, many students at DU are not receptive to the idea of stricter smoking policies.

Some consider the a tobacco prevention policy a violation of their rights.

“It’s somewhat a violation of the First Amendment,” sophomore Malaika Fosnes, a smoker, said.

“It’s not like we’re forcing the smoke down people’s throats. Smoking is a form of stress release… and it’s unfair for a higher institution to take that away just because they have the force and the money,” Fosnes added.

Rachel Lavine, a freshman who recently quit smoking, conceded that if she had lived on a campus where smoking was restricted she may have been less likely to pick up the habit.

But, Lavine still said she felt that a tobacco prevention policy would violate student rights.