LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Smoking is being officially snuffed out at the University of Kentucky, which sits in the heart of burley tobacco country.
The school started a strict tobacco-free policy Thursday that applies everywhere on the sprawling campus in Lexington and includes chew, pipes, cigars and snuff, as well as cigarettes. UK officials planned a midmorning news conference to discuss the changes.
Kentucky is the nation's leading producer of burley tobacco, an ingredient in cigarettes, and will keep plenty of ties to tobacco, even with the ban.
Its College of Agriculture offers production advice to tobacco growers and the school is home to a research center that is seeking new commercial uses for tobacco.
Elsewhere, the University of Louisville also kicked off a policy Thursday that bans smoking around most places on its campus.
