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• TIMOTHY ANDERSON, Plaintiff-Appellee vs RACHEAL ANDERSON nka HILL, Defendant-Appellant (PDF) 

{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Racheal Anderson nka Hill, appeals a decision of the Warren County Common Pleas Court, Domestic Relations Division, regarding custody and parenting time matters involving her daughter. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the trial court. . . .

On April 3, 2008, Marilyn moved the court to modify Racheal's parenting time with Victoria, and further moved the court for an order prohibiting all parties from smoking cigarettes in Victoria's presence. Marilyn argued that Victoria had expressed concerns, fears and reluctance over spending time with her mother, and had returned home from parenting time smelling of cigarette smoke as a result of Racheal smoking in her home and car. Marilyn also requested that a guardian ad litem be appointed for Victoria. . . .

In her third assignment of error, Racheal challenges the trial court's imposition of a no-smoking ban upon the parties. Specifically, she argues that there was no evidence before the court that Victoria suffered from any health problems or had an increased sensitivity to smoke, and she contends that there must be some evidence that a child suffers physical harm before the court can restrict a parent from engaging in a lawful activity. Racheal also points to the fact that the smoking ban is not limited to the parties' homes or to the parties themselves, and argues that the ban has effectively restricted the places where she can take Victoria.

{¶31} The trial court adopted the magistrate's finding that although there was no evidence presented to indicate that Victoria has any health problems or an increased sensitivity to cigarette smoke, it was not in Victoria's best interest to be exposed to such an activity. Indeed, other Ohio courts have made reference to the "avalanche of authoritative scientific studies" which indicate that "secondhand smoke constitutes a real and substantial danger to children because it causes and aggravates serious diseases in children, which danger is both a 'relevant factor' and a 'physical health factor'" that a trial court is required to consider in making a best interest determination under R.C. 3109.04(F). In Day, the Fifth District Court of Appeals found no abuse of discretion in the trial court's imposition of a no-smoking ban, noting that the Ohio Supreme Court has recognized conclusions made by the United States Surgeon General, as well as other health agencies, that "secondhand smoke impairs the respiratory health of thousands of young children." Id., quoting D.A.B.E., Inc. v. Toledo-Lucas Cty. Bd. of Health . . . . Regardless of the condition of their health, secondhand smoke is considered a danger to all children.

{¶32} Based on the foregoing, Racheal has not shown that the trial court's decision to restrict Victoria's exposure to cigarette smoke was arbitrary, unconscionable, or unreasonable so as to constitute an abuse of its discretion.

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No Smoking in Balconies and Patios 

A group of residents that successfully lobbied the City Council to ban smoking in common areas of apartments and condominiums wants the prohibition expanded to balconies and patios.

Santa Monicans for Non-Smoking Renters Rights also wants the creation of non-smoking sections for multi-family residential buildings, including units. And the group says landlords and condo owners should be forced to disclose smoking and non-smoking units to potential tenants and buyers.

"When someone smokes on a balcony or patio, the smoke is pulled into neighboring units because of the difference in air pressure," said group member Myra Morris, who called this "an intrusion."

A press release issued by the group claims that once secondhand smoke has drifted into a unit, it attaches to walls, floors, furniture and rugs and outgases back into the room, even if no one is smoking. The group looks to an article from January of this year in the journal Pediatrics as proof of the existence of what is called "third-hand smoke."

"If smoke is coming into your unit on a regular basis, you are at risk for illness," group member Barbara Bronie said "Cities have a responsibility to protect the public's health."

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City to consider smoking ordinance  

The Columbus City Council Tuesday is scheduled to consider a city-wide smoking ordinance which includes options for non-smokers and smokers.

The proposed ordinance, which largely is modeled after a Tennessee state law, bans smoking in "all enclosed public places," including restaurants.

But it allows smoking in "age-restricted venues," or bars, restaurants and other establishments, which only allow people age 21 or over to enter, and "private clubs," which restrict access to the general public.

"I just think it's the right thing to do," Ward 3 Councilman Charlie Box said of the ordinance, which he proposed. "Secondhand smoke is one of the most dangerous things in the world. There's just study, after study, after study on that. . . .

Proposed ordinance

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI, ENACTING AN ORDINANCE

BANNING AND/OR RESTRICTING SMOKING

KNOWN AS THE COLUMBUS, MISSISSIPPI NON-SMOKER PROTECTION ACT

WHEREAS, scientific studies have found that tobacco smoke is a major contributor to indoor air pollution; and

WHEREAS, such scientific studies, including st

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• State-Specific Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults --- United States, 2008 

Secondhand smoke (SHS) causes immediate and long-term adverse health effects in nonsmoking adults and children, including heart disease and lung cancer, and SHS exposure occurs primarily in homes and workplaces (1). Smoke-free policies, including not allowing smoking anywhere inside the home (i.e., having a smoke-free home rule), are the best way to provide protection from exposure to SHS. To assess SHS exposure in homes and indoor workplaces and the prevalence of smoke-free home rules, CDC analyzed 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from 11 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI). This report summarizes the results, which showed wide variation among states in exposure to SHS in homes (from 3.2% [Arizona] to 10.6% [West Virginia]) and indoor workplaces (from 6.0% [Tennessee] to 17.3% [USVI]). The majority of persons surveyed in the 11 states and USVI reported having smoke-free home rules (from 68.8% [West Virginia] to 85.7% [USVI]). This report also provides the 2008 results for CDC's annual BRFSS-based state-specific estimates of current smoking in 50 states, the District of Columbia (DC), and three territories (Guam, Puerto Rico, and USVI). As in previous years, the results showed substantial variation in self-reported cigarette smoking prevalence (range: 6.5%--27.4%; median for 50 states and DC = 18.4%). Additional legislation is needed to increase the number of smoke-free workplaces and other public places. Health-care providers should continue to encourage persons to make their homes completely smoke-free.

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Secondhand smoke remains a challenge despite laws 

While several African countries are making progress in implementing smokefree laws, nearly 90 percent of people on the continent remain without meaningful protection from secondhand smoke.

According to Global Voices: Rebutting the Tobacco Industry Winning Smokefree Air, a report released on the eve of the African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer (AORTIC) conference, more than 400-million people are protected by "comprehensive" smokefree laws with a further 500-million covered by "strong" smokefree laws.

"Comprehensive" smokefree laws do not allow any designated smoking rooms and include only extremely limited exemptions, while "strong" laws allows for these rooms.

The report points out that while there has been rapid progress there is a long way to go with people in low and middle-income countries set to bear the brunt of the global tobacco epidemic. Without clear tobacco control policies, tobacco-related illness, disability and death will follow.

The report calls on governments to continue to act if they are to meet the goal of protecting everyone from secondhand smoke by 2012 with most countries having to considerably strengthen existing smoking restrictions in order to meet the target.

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EDITORIAL: Illegalizing what’s legal 

While it's no big secret that smoking can harm your health, the ban that St. Louis County voted on and approved Tuesday is misguided. . . .

For a non-smoker, this means clearer, fresher air in their favorite public place. For a smoker, it means freezing outside in the wintertime, only to receive dirty looks and fake coughs from passersby. However, even non-smokers can agree that the way the ban, or Proposition N, is being executed is wrong.

First, less than 20 percent of eligible voters voted last Tuesday . . .

Second-hand smoke kills right? Actually, there are studies, not well publicized by the government or anti-smoking campaigns, which show the effects of secondhand smoke to be statistically irrelevant. However, there are studies that say precisely the opposite. . . .

Stopping the spread of second-hand smoke may seem noble at first glance, but the way St. Louis is doing it is limiting both personal freedoms and harming small business owners who cannot afford lobbyists to get them onto the elite "exemptions" portion of Proposition N.

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Smoking bans linked to cut in heart risk 

In Pennsylvania, it's been more than a year since a smoking ban took effect in most businesses and public places and the law's supporters welcome evidence that it will result in better health conditions.

A major report, released by the Institute of Medicine last month, confirmed what health officials long have believed: Bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and other gathering spots reduce the risk of heart attacks among nonsmokers. . . .

"The evidence is clear," said Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which requested the study. "Smoke-free laws don't hurt business ... but they prevent heart attacks in nonsmokers."

Among the report's conclusions: While heavier exposure to secondhand smoke is worse, there's no safe level. It also cited "compelling" if circumstantial evidence that even less than an hour's exposure might be enough to push someone already at risk of a heart attack over the edge. . . .

Pennsylvania's Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect Sept. 11, 2008, and monitoring its effect on people is one local group, Tobacco Free Allegheny. The group's executive director, Cindy Thomas, commented on the IOM report:

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Study: Heart attacks down since smoking ban  

A Mississippi State University study released Monday shows a 27 percent decrease in heart attacks among Starkville residents since the city passed its no-smoking ordinance in 2006.

The study by Robert McMillen and Dr. Robert Collins focused on Starkville residents in the three years since the city's Board of Aldermen passed the indoor smoking ban compared to the three prior years. Oktibbeha County Hospital and North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo treated a combined 51 Starkville residents for heart attacks in the three years before the smoking ban was enacted, but only 37 in the three years since, the study revealed.

Researchers see a correlation between the no-smoking policy and the decrease in heart attacks.

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• Study Links Decline in Heart Attacks to Smoking Bans 

A Mississippi State study released Monday [Nov. 9] shows a 27 percent decrease in heart attacks among Starkville residents since the city passed a smoking ban in 2006.

Researchers associated with the university report also are recommending a statewide public ban on smoking.

The study by Robert McMillen and Dr. Robert Collins shows fewer heart attacks being treated at the Oktibbeha County Hospital. It focused on Starkville residents in the three-year span after the ban became law, compared to three years prior.

McMillen is an assistant professor in the psychology department and researcher at MSU's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center; Collins is director of University Health Services.

Their findings are part of a larger SSRC evaluation of Mississippi communities that passed smoking bans in recent years. McMillen said the data shows Starkville benefitting medically from the smoking ban.

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• Roll your own smokes popular but no safer, research finds  

The number of tobacco smokers currently in Thailand has reached 14.3 million, the latest Global Adult Tobacco Survey revealed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry is considering a proposal to the Finance Ministry to increase the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products after finding over 7.4 million people smoke this style of cigarette. The remainder smoke manufactured cigarettes.

The Global Adult Tobacco Survey is a national household survey launched in February 2007.

Sixteen countries, home to more than half the world's smokers and bearing the highest tobacco use, were involved in the study: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Russian Federation, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay and Vietnam.

Thailand was the first country to complete and release its survey . . .

He said most cigarette manufacturers are now producing more smokeless cigarettes after noting an increasing trend in smokeless tobacco use among teenagers worldwide.

To reduce the number of hand-rolled cigarette smokers, Prakit has asked the government to increase the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products and collect tax excise to 70 per cent of product price from the current rate.

Deputy Minister of Public Health Manit Nopamornbodee said he will consult with the Finance Ministry about increasing the tax level on hand-rolled cigarette products and ya nat - traditional medicine that contains hand-rolled cigarette products. . . .

Meanwhile, Thai Network Against Tabinfo Asia 2009, led by Dr Hatai Chitanont, has submitted an open letter to Deputy Finance Minister,Prasit Pattaraprasit asking him to withdraw from the tobacco industry event he is due to open on Wednesday at Impact Arena Moung Thontani Exhibition Centre.

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• Tobacco smoke linked with respiratory diseases 

Tobacco smoke is involved in uncontrolled asthma, a diminished response to anti-asthma drugs, rhinitis, nasal obstruction, and deregulation of the immune system according to an international expert at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Miami Beach, Fla.

Tobacco smoking has been mainly associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and is attributed to being one of the main reasons that COPD disease is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

"Recent studies have shown that smoking can be linked with other respiratory diseases such as asthma exacerbations and rhinitis," said Carlos Baena-Cagnani, M.D., faculty of medicine, at Catholic University of Cordoba in Argentina. "Both active and passive smoking has been shown to be involved in uncontrolled asthma and associated with asthma exacerbations in children and adolescents."

According to Dr. Baena-Cagnani, active smoking also causes changes in inflammation in asthma patients, diminishes their response to anti-asthma drugs, and has been found to induce nasal obstruction and decreased mucociliary clearance.

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• Court bans mom from smoking near child 

No smoking around your daughter.

That was a Warren County court's order to a mother last December - and now an appeals court has sided with that ruling, taking the unusual step of using "judicial notice" to conclude that second-hand smoke is a danger to a child.

In a decision that could apply to many other child-custody and visitation cases, the Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals in Middletown upheld the Warren court's decision forbidding anyone from smoking around Victoria Anderson, 9. Since she was a baby, she has lived with her great-grandmother in suburban Dayton, Ohio; she gets "parenting time" with her divorced mom and dad.

In April 2008, Victoria's paternal great-grandmother, Marilyn Anderson, objected to the child's mother, Racheal Hill, smoking around Victoria during visits. The child returned home "smelling of cigarette smoke as a result of Racheal smoking in her home and car," court records say.

Eight months later, the court ordered all parties to protect Victoria from second-hand smoke; the appeals court, which oversees an eight-county area, upheld the smoking ban Oct. 26.

Disputes over parental smoking have been cropping up in family-court cases nationwide, legal experts say, and the cases highlight two competing interests: A parent's right to smoke versus a child's right to breathe smoke-free air. . . .

the court did something unusual. It "took judicial notice" - without anyone presenting proof in court - of an "avalanche of authoritative scientific studies" that say second-hand smoking poses risks to children.

Taking judicial notice is fairly unusual, said Marianna Brown Bettman, a University of Cincinnati law professor.

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Taking judicial notice
The Ohio 12th District Court of Appeals "took judicial notice" of an "avalanche of authoritative scientific studies" that say second-hand smoking poses risks to children, and so ordered all parties to protect a 9-year-old from second-hand smoke.

New smoking data have been reported by scientists at University of Otago 

According to recent research published in the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, "This study assessed the utility of spousal smoking as a measure of secondhand smoke exposure. The investigation involved secondary analysis of data from 526 female participants of a lung cancer case-control study from northeastern U.K.."

"Secondhand smoke exposure was measured in the home (spousal and nonspousal), workplace, and social/other settings over the whole life course. Almost all women (99.1%) had at least 10 years of secondhand smoke exposure from at least one source, most commonly from parental smoking in childhood, and spousal smoking, the workplace, and social settings during adulthood. Spousal smoking was strongly correlated with overall secondhand smoke exposure in the home

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• A review of human carcinogens—Part E: tobacco, areca nut, alcohol, coal smoke, and salted fish 

New evidence continues to add to the extensive list of tobacco-related cancers (table); there is now sufficient evidence that tobacco smoking causes cancer of the colon3 and of the ovary.4 More than 150 epidemiological studies of tobacco smoking and breast cancer were reviewed. Large cohort studies5, 6 published since 20022 consistently show a small positive association (relative risks 1·1—1·3). Many chemicals in tobacco smoke cause mammary-gland tumours in animals, and these carcinogens are stored in breast adipose tissue in women; therefore, the Working Group concluded that there is limited evidence that tobacco smoking causes breast cancer. A causal link between parental smoking and childhood cancers has been established. Four recent studies showed that children born of parents who smoke (father, mother, or both, including the preconception period and pregnancy) are at significantly higher risk of hepatoblastoma, a rare embryonic cancer. The UK Childhood Cancer Study7 reported a relative risk of 1·86 for paternal smoking only and 2·02 for maternal smoking only, increasing to 4·74 (95% CI 1·68—13·35) when both parents smoke. For childhood leukaemia, a meta-analysis reported an association with paternal smoking before pregnancy (summary relative risk 1·12, 1·04—1·21).8 Second-hand smoke causes lung cancer.2 There is now limited evidence for an association with cancers of the larynx and the pharynx,9 whereas evidence for female breast cancer remains inconclusive. Since second-hand smoke contains most of the constituents of mainstream smoke, it might also be associated with other cancer sites. Many types of smokeless tobacco are marketed and all contain nicotine and nitrosamines. Hundreds of millions of people use smokeless tobacco, mainly in India and southeast Asia, but also in Sweden and the USA. Earlier findings showed a causal association between use of smokeless tobacco and cancers of the oral cavity and pancreas, and there is now sufficient evidence for cancer of the oesophagus.10 All of the forms of tobacco discussed above induce malignant tumours in laboratory animals.

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Robert Moran: Smoking — legal and smoky environments  

Nov. 19 is the American Cancer Society's 32nd annual Great American Smokeout. In support, "Thinking about Salem" will address smoking in three columns highlighting significant developments and research findings published from September 2008 through August 2009.

Legal environment

It was a momentous year. On June 22, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act became law. It gave the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) extensive authorities to regulate tobacco for public health purposes. . . .

The industry took a knee to its pocketbook just before Christmas. The Supreme Court ruled smokers could sue manufactures who advertised cigarettes as “light” for fraud. At trial, plaintiffs successfully argued manufactures knew people smoking reduced tar and nicotine cigarettes would alter their smoking habits to extract as much tar and nicotine from “lights” as they got from full-strengths. This ruling bodes badly for tobacco in an ongoing racketeering case. In July, a three-judge panel from the Federal Court of Appeals unanimously upheld a 2006 conviction of tobacco companies for conspiring to suppress evidence smoking is harmful. Along with huge fines ($280 billion), the trial court prohibited advertising any cigarette as “light.” If tobacco appeals its racketeering conviction to the Supreme Court, as the financial press reports it will, court-watchers think it will fare badly.

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