Univ. of California in campus smoking ban SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- The University of California says smoking will be banned from its campuses over the next two years in an effort prevent young people from developing the habit. Cigarettes and all other tobacco products will be prohibited for students and staff alike on every UC campus in outdoor spaces, parking lots and private residences, school officials said this week. There will be no designated smoking areas, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday. While the main push for the policy grew out of an effort to reduce people's exposure to secondhand smoke, UC officials said they hope it will cause an overall reduction in smoking among those who work or study on UC campuses. "Our young students who come here as freshmen, who don't smoke but come to college and start experimenting, maybe they won't choose to smoke now," Trish Ratto, manager of UC Berkeley's Health Matters wellness program and a member of the committee developing the UC-wide smoking ban, was quoted as saying. "That would be a huge gain," she told the newspaper.