Texas A&M bans vaping and e-cigarettes on all campuses

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Tuesday, October 1, 2019
Texas A&M bans vaping and e-cigarettes on all campuses
The university says smoking is banned in most places, but the ban will be mandatory and "expanded to every inch of the Texas A&M System."

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KTRK) -- Anyone who steps foot on a Texas A&M campus will not be allowed to vape or smoke e-cigarettes, according to a memo released by the university system.

Chancellor John Sharp said smoking is banned in most campuses and facilities of TAMU, but announced the ban on vaping will be "mandatory and expanded to every inch of the Texas A&M System."

"This health threat is serious enough that I want to see the ban include every building, outside space, parking lot, garage and laboratory within the Texas A&M System," read the memo.

Sharp noted the CDC's recent reported 800 cases of lung injury and 12 deaths in the U.S.

"I do not want to take any unnecessary chances with the health of our students, faculty and staff," said Sharp.

In September, ABC13 spoke with a Texas A&M student who says he was hospitalized and spent days in the ICU due to smoking e-cigarettes.

"Don't do it right now," Hunter Sims said. "Not at all. It's horrible for you, and I came very close to death, and I'm lucky."

RELATED: 'I came very close to death': Vaping lands Texas A&M student in ICU

"I came very close to death" | ABC13's Nick Natario spoke with Texas A&M student Hunter Sims, who is recovering from what he says was a vaping related illness.