The University of Montana is poised to join a growing roster of colleges nationwide banning tobacco on campus.

The ban is set to go into effect in the fall of 2011, and would be the second campuswide smoking ban in Montana - as Montana Tech in Butte is going tobacco-free in 2010.

Montana State University has proposed a similar ban.

Across the country, more and more colleges are banning not just smoking, but the use of all tobacco products anywhere on campus. There are now 172 tobacco-free campuses nationwide, and another 322 smoke-free campuses.

UM and other Montana campuses currently have a 25-foot smoking perimeter around building entrances. But a study by the UM Tobacco Task Force found that nearly two-thirds of smokers were violating that regulation.

"We actually did the research because some students were complaining about it," said Kari Harris, an associate professor of public health at UM.

On Oct. 19, UM President George Dennison sent a campuswide e-mail informing faculty, staff and students of UM's intentions.

"In view of the evidence concerning the effects of secondhand smoke and the need to sustain a healthy environment for students, faculty and staff, I believe the time has come for the University of Montana to take action," he wrote.

The ASUM Senate, the student governing body, endorsed the ban last month.

Right now, the policy is in the proposal stage. Over the coming year, the university will gather comments from students, faculty and staff and follow up with education, public meetings and smoking-cessation programs as the fall 2011 deadline approaches.

As planned, the policy would ban the use of all tobacco products - including snoose, chew and snuff - anywhere on land owned by or leased to UM.

That includes Washington-Grizzly Stadium, where smoking is currently allowed along perimeter fences. It also includes the UM Golf Course and even Campus Drive and all parking lots - technically, smoking in a golf cart or a car would be a violation.

Linda Green, director of health enhancement at UM and a Tobacco Task Force member, said she expects - and wants - to hear plenty from students, even if it's outrage.

"This is new territory for us," she said. "And we will see after this first part of the assessment of the entire campus what people really think. We want to hear their concerns."

The plan does not spell out penalties or punishments for violating the ban, and UM has no plans to enact strict disciplinary rules. Rather, said Green, two years of education and forewarning will be more effective.

"When the time actually comes, you won't have many people breaking the policy," she said. "But we will not have people out there handing out tickets."

Why a complete ban as opposed to a smoking ban?

Because the university has an obligation to care for the health of its population - whether they're tobacco users or not, said Harris.

"These kind of broad policy changes have a huge impact on people's health," she said. "We know when we enact policies that restrict smoking it has a health benefit for smokers and nonsmokers."

Simply banning cigarettes would give students the message that other uses of tobacco are safer.

"Is that the message we want to send?" Harris said.

UM also has a duty to maintain a campus that isn't a training ground for new smokers, said Green, who said the only demographic where smoking rates are increasing is the 18- to 24-year-old group.

"It used to be that if you didn't start smoking in high school, you probably wouldn't smoke," she said. "But now the tobacco companies are really targeting 18- to 24-year-olds."

For Eric Goughnour, who tugged on a smoke outside the Liberal Arts building Friday, UM's move is a menace.

"I definitely feel singled out," said the junior art education and digital media major.

And the ban will not, he insisted, get students to quit smoking.

"It's not like they're going to get us to go to yoga and turn our lives around," he said. "No, we're just going to be mad about it."

Goughnour's friend, Wynne Hurly, a senior art major also puffing away on a smoke she'd bummed, isn't nearly as upset.

"I think it's a good thing for campus," she said as Goughnour rolled his eyes. "Like the smoking ban in the bars. I still go out, and I just deal with it."

But, she added: "I'm glad I'll be graduating in January."

Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com.