RAPID CITY - You can still smoke; you're just going to have fewer places to do it.

That's the stipulation Black Hills State University officials will give to smokers on campus at the turn of the new year.

With a Postsecondary Tobacco Prevention grant from the state, BHSU will use $5,000 annually to fund ways to limit tobacco use on campus.

The grants are offered to all postsecondary education institutions in the state. School officials must apply for the money, and the level of grant money increases with the level of restrictions.

The smallest grant is $2,500, the next is $5,000, the second-largest is $10,000 and schools that commit to being completely tobacco free will receive a $20,000 grant.

For the $5,000 incentive, BHSU has committed to prohibiting tobacco use of any kind anywhere within campus buildings, including residence halls and all other buildings and vehicles owned by BHSU. Smoking will be prohibited within at least 10 feet of building entrances on campus, and there are no exceptions for smoking in prohibited areas. There will also not be any smoking facilities or smoking "huts" on campus.

It's really not that big of a change, but it's a step in the right direction, Sandy Klarenbeek, a health educator in the school's department of education, said.

"There are designated areas for smokers (right now), but it's not well enforced," she said.

She said the idea behind the money has been supported by research for many years.

"There's just miles of research that say what prompts people to cut down or stop altogether is to make it inconvenient for them," she said. "We want healthy students and we want healthy workers."

Besides that, it's not just about smokers, she said.

"We want to be able to offer clean air," she said, adding that the demographic age for most college woman is child-bearing age, and smoking has negative effects on pregnant women. "This is a public health issue."

The jury is still out on whether smokers on campus feel the same way. A student opinion survey is being conducted this week, student senate president Kelly Kirk said.

In talking to the students, "It's a mixed result," she said.

Kirk said she supports the compromise of a campus that allows smoking in only a few designated areas.

"I am very comfortable with the $5,000 level, …" she said. "It's becoming more strict about the policy but still allowing people some freedoms. I think the money really could be used to benefit campus."

BHSU is not the only school looking to go more tobacco free. Oglala Lakota College has committed to a tobacco-free campus and will apply for the $20,000 grant.

Klarenbeek said the first year for any campus moving toward tobacco-free changes will be the most difficult.

"You have to be compassionate (toward) people that are tobacco users," she said. "It's the hardest thing to quit."

Contact Kayla Gahagan at 394-8410 or kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com