College students can still light up after Brown vetoes smoking ban

Score one for smokers.

On Monday, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a proposed ban on cigarettes and other tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, at all California State University and community college campuses.

“The governing boards of our public colleges and universities already have the authority and are fully capable of setting smoking policies on their campuses,” he wrote in a veto message for Assembly Bill 1594. “Current law should suffice.”

Neither system took a position on the measure. While the University of California issued a blanket prohibition on smoking and vaping across its 10 campuses in 2014, only six of 23 CSU campuses have adopted similar restrictions. The state’s 113 community colleges also set their own rules.

It has otherwise not been a great year for tobacco lovers. This summer, California raised the legal smoking age to 21 and implemented sweeping new restrictions on e-cigarettes, and just last week Brown signed another bill forbidding smoking at youth sports events.

This story was originally published September 26, 2016 at 4:25 PM.