Bournemouth Union bans smoking in bars
Students at Bournemouth University will be banned from smoking in its bars from January in a four-week trial. The experiment was authorised by students at a recent AGM, attended by over a hundred students and quorate for the first time in six years. It will affect Dylan's and D2 on the Talbot Campus.
At the end of the trial, a referendum will be held on whether to continue the ban, with students able to choose to ban smoking in one, both or neither of the venues.
Union President Will Page told the BBC that he was pleased students had taken a position on the issue. "It might be an unpopular move with smokers but as a result of a democratic vote it is obviously something that people want," he said.
Bournemouth has a history when it comes to smoking bans: its beach was the first in the country to ban it in 1997, although the tourism authority admits that it cannot be enforced.
The experiment will be watched with keen interest by other student unions, several of which are thought to want to restrict smoking in some areas but are fearful of the reaction. If it proves a success, further bans could follow.
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