Tobacco.org

• New rules set more specific smoke-free areas  

Smoke 'em if you got 'em, but don't do it anywhere near an Air Force hospital or clinic. In fact, don't bother lighting up in an installation parking lot, near a sidewalk or your kid's favorite base playground either.

An updated Air Force Instruction on tobacco use in the service says those places are now off-limits to smokers, tobacco chewers, dippers and sniffers. And don't think you're safe smoking electronic -- or e-cigarettes -- or any kind of pipe or hookah.

All such devices also will be relegated to designated tobacco-use areas. And that area will be much farther away than it probably has been.

The new AFI, which went into effect March 26, designates all Air Force hospitals and clinics as tobacco-free environments, which means no smoking within 200 feet of a medical facility campus. That campus includes the facility's parking structures and lots, lawns, and any other contiguous outdoor area.

The days of running outside to get your nicotine fix and lighting up before the door closes are gone, too.

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