A campuswide ban on the use of tobacco products and electronic cigarettes that was to take effect Jan. 1 at the University of Hawaii at Manoa has been postponed pending review by unions and faculty.

The ban was announced in October as a way to create a healthier campus and to toughen the university’s anti-smoking policy. Smoking is prohibited in buildings and most outdoor areas, including courtyards, breezeways and terraces.

The policy applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors.

"The Faculty Senate is in the process of finalizing recommendations to the administration," senate Chairman David P. Ericson said Tuesday,

The senate wants to eliminate a penalty clause in the policy for violations of the smoking ban, a change that is also supported by government and other labor unions on campus.

Announcement of the university ban, supported by Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple, followed a resolution passed in February by the Associated Students of the University of Hawaii calling for more restrictions on the use of tobacco products.

The association representing more than 14,000 students also included electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigarettes, in the resolution.

E-cigarettes are products that turn chemicals, including highly addictive nicotine, into a vapor that is inhaled.

Kapiolani Community College banned the use of electronic smoking devices along with tobacco-related products in the fall.

The state Department of Health on Monday announced that beginning Jan. 1 it will ban the use of e-cigarettes from about 80 work sites where there are department employees, including state hospitals.

State health official Lola Irvin acknowledged that the policy does not have the force of law or state regulation, where individuals could be arrested for a violation.

Cory Smith, owner and chief executive officer of Volcano Fine Electronic Cigarettes, said the new policies trample the rights of e-cigarette users.

Smith, who has more than a dozen retail outlets on Oahu, said published studies show that secondhand vapor from e-cigarettes contains none of the toxins associated with combustible tobacco cigarettes.

"What is missing here is common sense," he said.

Irvin said while electronic smoking devices are touted as smoke-free, they have not been proved to be safe.

Irvin, the department’s tobacco settlement programs manager, said such devices release nicotine and other chemicals and carcinogens into the air, exposing people to potentially harmful vapor.

Officials in Hawaii and a number of other states have been waiting for the Food and Drug Administration to develop rules regulating e-cigarettes.

The FDA has regulated cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco and was given the authority to regulate tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, through the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009.

FDA spokesman Jennifer Haliski said Tuesday that as a matter of procedure, the proposed rules regulating e-cigarettes have been sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review.

Once the review is complete, the FDA plans to publish the proposed rules for public comment in the Federal Register.

Depending on the comments, the proposals could be changed before final rules are adopted.

The FDA said further research is needed to assess the potential public health benefits and risks linked to e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products.