The University is implementing new regulations for tobacco use on campus.

Outdoor smoking will only be permitted beyond a 25-foot perimeter of University facilities.

According to an e-mail that Chancellor James Oblinger sent the student body, “the appropriate dean or vice chancellor may designate a smoking area within 25 feet of a building.”

The University bookstore will also stop carrying tobacco products as of Jan. 1.

Pat Hofmeister, associate director of the NCSU Bookstores, said the bookstore decided to change its policy even before receiving official notification of the new regulations.

A large sign at NCSU store reads, “Effective January 1, 2008: We will no longer offer cigarettes or tobacco products for resale. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.”

“Knowing there will be a change, the bookstore has decided to discontinue the sale of tobacco products,” Hoffmeister said.

Charles Leffler, vice chancellor for finance and business, said the state legislature passed general statute 143-96, which put additional restrictions on smoking in state and university facilities.

“We have had restrictions relating to university and government buildings for years,” Leffler said. “But as of Jan. 1, there will be absolutely no smoking in or around university buildings,” he said.

Leffler said the law allows the University to disallow smoking within 100 feet of a University building, but the University is only mandating a distance of 25 feet from a building.

“We selected the 25 foot distance so that non-smokers aren’t forced to inhale second hand smoke that smokers hanging out in front of doors produce,” Leffler said.

Christopher Davis, a freshman in the First Year College said he saw the need for these regulations.

“I don’t blame NCSU for being tight with tobacco regulations, cigarette butts litter our campus and second hand smoke pollutes our lungs,” he said.

Emily Bolch, a freshman in the fashion and textiles management disagreed.

“Smoking on campus doesn’t really bother me. I think N.C. State is just trying to get ‘smoke-free’ to compete with less masculine schools like UNC-Chapel Hill to be the most politically correct,” she said.

Phillip Williams, a sophomore in agribusiness business, said he wasn’t pleased with the new regulations.

“These new rules are hypocritical for a state-funded agricultural school to impose. How is NCSU going to teach me in a classroom how to grow tobacco and then not let me smoke it on campus?” Williams asked. “The fact is that North Carolina is one of the largest tobacco producing states in the country.”

According to Williams, historically, North Carolinians have depended on tobacco as much as the state economy does now.

“I will never understand our government’s efforts to suppress its sale and use,” Williams said.

Barbara Carroll, associate vice chancellor for human resources, could not be reached for comment after multiple attempts.