The coast Is clear: No more smoke at Coastal Carolina University

CONWAY, SC (WMBF) - The coundown is on. Beginning August 1, the Coastal Carolina University Campus will be smoke-free for both students and faculty.

Coastal Carolina officials refer to this as a "soft start" for the students and full faculty that will not be arriving for a couple of weeks. However that does not mean they will be lenient with this new policy.

The University's Board of Trustees approved the policy in December.

CCU officials felt it was time to jump on board with the smoke-free initiative that other college and university campuses have already put in place.

In South Carolina, 23 campuses have approved going tobacco-free.

The Director of News and Public Affairs for CCU explained they took many things into account before making the decision.

They looked at studies that show as a whole, students who don't smoke have higher GPAs and not only that, but the health risks for even second-hand smokers sparked a huge student backing.

CCU officials feel it was time to be proactive instead of reactive to a mandate forcing them to ban smoking. The reason behind this online countdown is for the word to travel -- no more tobacco products on campus at all not even e-cigarettes.

"So that everybody's ready. we want everyone to know about this and be prepared for the transition from having smoking allowed in just a few sections of campus to no longer having tobacco allowed on campus at all," explained Martha Hunn, Director of News and Public Affairs.

All tobacco products will be banned from Coastal Carolina University grounds. Hunn said that means people will not be able to smoke in their cars either.

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The coast Is clear: No more smoke at Coastal Carolina University