With the city’s preliminary approval of stern new tobacco regulations Sept. 4, Boston’s college-age smokers may want to begin stocking up on cigarettes. If given final approval, the law would ban the sale of tobacco products on college campuses, in pharmacies and close down hookah bars across the city. The Boston Public Health commission is out of line in proposing such vague, sweeping and age-specific regulations.

While we do not condone the use of tobacco due to its well-understood health risks, banning the sale of tobacco products on college campuses is an absurd measure in a city defined by its more than 20 colleges.

The first problem the city faces with the new tobacco regulations is the inexact definition of a college campus. Does the city want to ban cigarette sales in Boston University buildings, or will the ban extend to all “on-campus” buildings, including all shops in Kenmore Square?

Boston’s colleges and universities can sometimes be hard to find — they’re seamlessly integrated within the city, and most meld students, residents and businesses. The decision to use college campuses as a basis for tobacco prohibition is poorly conceived.

By singling out college campuses, the city has effectively declared entire neighborhoods tobacco-free areas, making it a T ride away for some to buy smokes and a trip across the street for others. Smokers addicted to nicotine are not going to kick their habit simply because of inconvenience. If the message is to reduce citywide smoking, then why did the Commission define prohibition zones instead of removing cigarettes from all Boston stores?

It’s no coincidence that the tobacco ban on college campuses covers some of the city’s most well-to-do areas. A BPHC official even admits that the aim of the proposal is to “improve the reputation of area schools.” What about the reputation of the other neighborhoods in Boston? The city is sending the message that college students should not be smoking, but their working peers can smoke all they want?

College-aged adults may be beginning to feel targeted by the city, and with good reason. Last December, the same city council that voted unanimously to approve these new tobacco regulations voted unanimously to pass an amendment to city zoning laws making it illegal for more than four college students to live in an apartment. That initiative specifically targeted college students who live off campus.

Part of the new tobacco restriction laws will also force cigar and hookah bars to close down within five years; another thinly veiled strike at college-age adults. Again, the BPHC admits hookah is currently popular among 18- to 24-year-olds in the city, according to a Sept. 9 Metro article.

While the city may harbor good intentions in reducing tobacco use, its methods and motives are questionable. The city is sending many mixed messages to both its residents and students, while at the same time reducing the availability of a legal drug. Mayor Menino would do well to take a long, hard look at how the proposal will affect the city before he signs it into law.