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# Smoking ban at SMC catching fire
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/smoking-ban-at-smc-catching-fire/
- Published: 2007-05-09T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T00:43:30.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*First students approve prohibiting smoking, now board has vote*

SMC Students who light up at Santa Monica College better enjoy those drags, because it looks as if a ban on smoking on campus is getting more addictive by the day.

The Associated Students on Monday passed a resolution in support of making SMC a smoke-free campus and an influential advisory group is expected to do the same when it takes up the issue this afternoon.

If the District Planning and Advisory Council (DPAC) backs the ban, their recommendation would go straight to the college president, who would then be in charge of bringing the issue before the Board of Trustees, who would make the final policy decision.

DPAC is comprised of faculty, administrators, classified employees and students.

While there seems to be a lot of support for the ban, some members of DPAC are not so sure it will be supported by the entire council.

“There are a lot of people on both sides, so right now I’m going to stay neutral,” said Bernie Rosenloecher, a member of DPAC and the union representative for all classified employees at the college, which includes nurses, custodians and clerical workers. “Amongst our union members there are folks on both sides of the fence.”

Currently, smoking at SMC is prohibited within 25 feet of any building, open window or public entrance, said Bruce Smith, a spokesman for the college.

Students voted overwhelmingly in April to make SMC smoke free. Of the 2,222 students who participated in the election, 62.9 percent were in favor of the ban, while 37.1 percent were not. SMC has more than 30,000 students who attend classes each year. Those opposed to a ban cite the low turnout for the election as reason enough to not move forward with the proposal, while those who support it have used the results to back their claim that students have given the Board of Trustees a clear mandate.

In 2005, students were asked whether or not they would prefer a smoke-free campus or the establishment of smoking areas. The vote was virtually split down the middle, with half the students in favor of an all out ban, according to the Associated Students.

If SMC were to ban smoking on its campuses, it would join City Hall in enacting some of the most far-reaching restrictions on smoking in the nation, aside from Calabasas, which has outlawed smoking in public all together.

Late last year, elected officials voted to ban smoking at the Third Street Promenade, all outdoor dining areas, bus stops, ATM lines and other service areas, as well as within 20 feet of any window or entrance open to the public.

Smoking has also been outlawed at all parks, the beach, restaurants and bars.

More municipalities are enacting bans following reports by the U.S. Surgeon General and the California Air Resources Board that labeled second-hand smoke a toxic air contaminant that leads to premature death. The U.S. Surgeon General went so far as to say there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand smoke.

DPAC is scheduled to meet today at 3 p.m. in Drescher Hall at the main campus.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 9, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/050907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)