CHAMPAIGN -- Illinois lawmakers are pushing to ban smoking on all public college campuses.
A senate committee approved the bill Tuesday, but going smoke-free is already a trend at several schools in Central Illinois.
U of I's Champaign-Urbana campus will be going smoke-free in November. Last week, the Chicago campus voted to become tobacco-free. Additionally, students at Parkland College in Champaign are currently pushing for a smoke-free campus.
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District's Nikki Hillier said this smoke-free bill sends a public health message.
"We're creating social norms so that most people aren't seeing people smoke, so it's not a normal thing," Hillier said, citing how less people will be inclined to smoke under the proposed ban. "We're showing our kids that tobacco use is not normal."
The state-wide bill is moving on to the full Senate. If passed, the ban would take effect in July 2014.
