More colleges ban smoking on campus

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Universities in Oklahoma, Montana and Oregon are the latest to announce campus-wide bans against smoking.

The University of Oklahoma, the University of Oregon and Montana State said they are joining hundreds of other institutions of higher learning in banning smoking, USA Today reported Tuesday.

The Advocacy group Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights said 774 U.S. college campuses have banned smoking as of July 1, including 552 that prohibit tobacco use altogether.

Executive Director Cynthia Hallet said in 2008 there were only 131 campuses where students and faculty weren't allowed to smoke.

The Obama administration is hoping to make all college campuses smoke-free.

On Wednesday the assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will be at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to announce a nationwide push to enact tobacco-free policies.