New State Law on Smoking in Public Locations and Workplaces
Important information regarding new state law on smoking in public locations and workplaces
Dear Colleagues:
As you may know, a new state law will be in effect starting July 1, which mandates that nearly all public places and places of employment in Indiana -- including facilities on university campuses, restaurants, and other workplaces -- be smoke free. This change comes as the result of Indiana's first statewide smoke-free-air law, House Enrolled Act 1149 (www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2012/HE/HE1149.1.html).
While Indiana University has had a tobacco-free policy (www.smokefree.indiana.edu/) since Jan. 1, 2008, when all IU campuses enacted individually tailored policies providing for a smoke- or tobacco-free campus, the new law makes smoking in IU facilities or within eight feet of an entrance a citable offense. As such, the IU Police Department now will be involved in efforts by campuses to maintain a smoke-free environment. In addition, as one of the primary agencies tasked with enforcing the new law, we might expect that the State department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms may also be on campuses gauging our enforcement and perhaps issuing citations at some point.
We are obligated under state law to do certain things, such as post signs about the ban, communicate about the law to our campus communities, and cite violators. Therefore, we will begin issuing warnings to violators of the state law as of July 1, and then shortly thereafter our IUPD officers will begin issuing citations. We will go through a similar cycle of warnings followed by citations when classes restart in the Fall, since many of our students may be unaware of the new law.
However, we want formal warnings and certainly citations to be a very last resort -- I ask for the support of all IU employees in complying with the law and university policy, and also through sharing this message broadly within departments and across campuses.
Thanks in advance for your support on this important i