To ring in the new year, Illinois will be smoke-free.

As of Jan. 1, 2008, smoking will be prohibited within 15 feet of the doors of all Illinois public buildings and businesses.

The statewide smoking ban, signed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in May, also prohibits smoking inside bars, restaurants and other public buildings. Illinois, is the 19th state to enact such a ban, according to WBBM-Chicago.

Despite the ban, health educator Mary Strohm predicts very little change on campus.

“The university has been smoke-free for a while, and DeKalb has been smoke-free since 2006,” Strohm said, noting that the residence halls went smoke-free in 2003.

The only change, Strohm said, will be smoking-permitted locations. However, she maintained that the change will be miniscule.

“I think it will be a pretty seamless transition,” she said. “I think any changes will be positive because most students don’t smoke.”

Strohm said 70 percent of students don’t smoke, and that students are “pretty supportive of indoor smoking bans” as evidenced by the smoking ban in residence halls, citing surveys Health Enhancement has collected over the years.

A collection of interviews conducted in 2003 found that “nine out of 10 smokers we interviewed were interested in quitting,” Strohm said.

Freshman English major Scott Grotto, a regular smoker, criticized using the ban as a tool to help smokers quit.

“It’s a bad assumption that everyone who smokes wants to quit,” Grotto said. “[The ban] is good if you’re looking to quit, but for some it’s an inconvenience.”

As for the ban itself, Grotto described it as “obnoxious.”

“You can’t really go anywhere on campus without being within 15 feet of some door,” Grotto said.

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