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Lawmakers Discuss Smoking Ban in All Public Places in Missouri 

Robert martin says he's pretty much married to his nightclub. He even lives right above it. He's owned Nathan P. Murphy's for 28 years, but his relationship with the club almost cost him his life.

"Many of nights I would crawl out of my apartment and gasp for air," says Martin.

Martin's not a smoker, but he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a common lung disease associated with smoking.

"When the doctor told me to change my environment or I would die, it took me five seconds to make that decision," says Martin.

So for the last two years, he's run a smoke free setup.

"It's been overwhelmingly supported even by smokers," says Martin.

Some Missouri lawmakers are trying to make all public establishments smoke-free, citing risks from secondhand smoke. . . .

The debate is bound to be heated at the state capital. But for Martin, it was a choice he had to make. And because of that, he's now able sit among his customers in the place he loves.

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Grandma breathes easier in smoke-free building  

The high rate of asthma typically found in kids in housing projects is among the factors spurring Boston to ban smoking in public housing.

"You have young children who are living in households with smokers and have asthma or are at risk of developing asthma," said Doug Brugge, a professor at Tufts School of Medicine and author of a 2003 study of Dorchester and South Boston projects that found elevated childhood asthma rates. "Clearly that is not a good thing for those children."

Mold, poor ventiliation and pests also exacerbate asthma, but second-hand smoke is a main contributer, he said.

Meena Carr, 68, who lives in Roslindale's Washington-Beech development, said smoke from other apartments triggered asthma attacks in her grandson, Malik Carr, 9, until she convinced the building to go smoke-free.

"They don't have a choice," she said of children like Malik.

There has been no widescale study of asthma rates of children in Boston public housing, but public-health experts say rates are higher than in the general population.

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Mayor Thomas Menino lights up battle of the butt  

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is opening a new front in his war against tobacco: the city's cigarette-riden housing projects, which he vows to make smoke-free in the next four years.

"What we are trying to do is make a healthier environment for people who work and live in our city," Menino told the Herald.

By this summer, smoking could be banned in more than 100 new units in Boston Housing Authority public housing, which currently sees rates of smoking 50 percent higher than the general population. According to a 2006 city survey, 15.5 percent of nonpublic housing residents smoke, compared to 23 percent of BHA renters.

"They smoke in the hallways so everyone else has the fumes coming in under their door," said Phyllis Corbitt, who lives in Southie's Old Colony. "That's what I have to live with now, and I don't smoke but I'm getting second-hand smoke anyways."

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Puffers fuming over planned ban  

The Boston Housing Authority plans to open more than 100 smoke-free public housing units in a rebuilt section of Old Colony slated for completion in 2012, in keeping with a vow by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to have entirely smoke-free public housing by 2014.

But Southie smokers have a message for the mayor: You can pry those cigarettes out of our cold, dead hands.

"I try to quit somewhat for my health," Matthew Tilton, 21, told the Herald, leaning out of his building's window after stubbing out a Newport. "But if they force it to, 'If you're gonna smoke, you can't live here,' then that's not right."

Yet, not all smokers were feeling the hate. Some ruefully embrace the ban.

"I'd go for a new unit," said Veronica Szwanke, 27, of Old Colony where, she said, people chain-smoke in the hallways. "I'd quit if I had to," the Newport smoker said.

Five-year resident and 13-year smoker Benito Diaz, 56, said he'd welcome the ban, too - for safety and olfactory reasons.

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Menino pushes to ban smoking in public housing 

Mayor Thomas Menino is looking to mitigate the effects of secondhand smoke with an initiative that will ban smoking in future Boston Housing Authority public residences.

Menino told The Boston Herald he hopes to ban smoking in at least 100 new residences by this summer.

The new smoke-free housing, which will include residences at Franklin Hill in Dorchester, Washington-Beech in Roslindale and Old Colony, will make up less than two percent of all Boston Housing Authority public housing, according to the article.

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New York guard shoots two Irishmen after smoking row  

TWO IRISHMEN are recovering from gunshot wounds in a New York hospital after being shot by a security guard in a dispute over smoking at a bowling alley.

Gerard Hourigan from Limerick and Justin Donaghy from Navan, both age 29, were smoking indoors in a bowling alley in Queens at about 1.45am on Saturday when Michael Iavecchio (54), the bowling alley's security guard, told them to leave.

Mr Iavecchio then escorted them outside and a fight ensued. The guard, a retired policeman, pulled out his .380 calibre Ruger semi-automatic pistol and shot Mr Hourigan on the right side of the torso and Mr Donaghy in the stomach.

"This has been an enormous trauma," said a young American woman who identified herself as Mr Hourigan's wife. She was reached by telephone at the Elmhurst Hospital in Queens

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• Two shot in US bowling alley row  

THE parents of an Irishman who was shot outside a New York bowling alley after he was thrown out for smoking inside the venue have flown to the US to be at their son's bedside.

Gerard Hourigan (29), from Upper Grange, Bruff, Co Limerick, was one of two Irishmen shot at a Queens bowling alley during an altercation with a security guard after the pair were escorted from the building for smoking. Mr Hourigan was shot in the stomach in the early hours of Saturday after he and his companion, Justin Donaghy (29), were brought out of the AMF 34th Avenue Lanes and a fight ensued with the security guard.

Mr Donaghy, from Meath, was also shot in the stomach, but both men are expected to survive the incident. They are also being charged in connection with the incident. . . .

The violent confrontation unfolded after Mr Iavecchio, who was armed, asked the men to leave the bowling alley because they were smoking cigarettes in a vestibule. The security guard escorted the men outside, where the ensuing fight and shooting were captured on CCTV.

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Haloperin: Tobacco ban in Seattle parks affirms citizen right to breathe smoke-free air 

The Seattle Parks Board is considering a ban on smoking and the use of other tobacco products in city parks. Guest columnist Abigail Halperin urges the board to adopt the ban, arguing the ban would be good for public health and that people have the right to breathe smoke-free air. . . .

Smoke-free laws have been shown to help people succeed in freeing themselves from this deadly and addictive habit. Conversely, allowing smoking in public places thwarts the efforts of smokers trying to quit and undermines our state programs to prevent youth from starting to smoke.

Enacting an inclusive and unambiguous smoking ban in our parks will save lives and money and improve quality of life for all. Failing to act, or creating an ineffective rule, would be a victory only for the tobacco companies, who have successfully overturned or delayed passage of similar public-health measures in our state before. Let's not let this happen again.

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• Vics first to crack down on street smokers 

SMOKING outdoors will be outlawed along entire streets in a Victorian-first trial.

The Herald Sun reports Frankston City Council is preparing to impose blanket bans along three busy open-air shopping strips, including opposite the train station.

Lighting up in the designated exclusion zones during the planned six-month trial could cost defiant smokers fines up to $110.

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Exclusive: Scots smokers refuse to call it quits despite ban  

THE smoking ban has failed to persuade Scots to pack in the habit, we can reveal.

Government figures show the numbers of smokers are about the same as when the ban was introduced in 2006.

The statistics will shock politicians who believed the ban would lead to a huge reduction in the numbers of smokers.

At the time, it was suggested that 70 per cent of smokers wanted to give up.

The figures also show that Scotland has more smokers than any other area of the UK - despite the ban starting here first.

Last night, sources close to the government admitted there had been no significant decline in smoker numbers.

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group FOREST, said: "People have not given up smoking. They simply smoke elsewhere - in the street or at home.

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ComVal implements "no smoking" policy 

Governor Arturo T. Uy led the provincial officials and the department heads in a ceremonial signing of the "No Smoking" signage bearing the International No Smoking Symbol during the provincial government's launching of the No Smoking Policy this February.

The implementation of the policy serves as a strong support to Memo Circular No. 17, series of 2009 of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) which encourages people to quit smoking for health reasons and to protect people from secondhand smoke. Such policy finds legal basis from the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 (Republic Act 9211) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

As an immediate response to the said CSC Memo Circular, Governor Uy issued Memorandum Order No. 025, series of 2010 addressed to all employees for the strict implementation of such policy.

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City wakes up to ban on smokingx 

LUDHIANA: Ban on smoking in public and also no sale of tobacco products to minors has gone to the wind as in the last nine months, the health department could issue only 12 challans. As if rising from slumber to make the city smoke-free, the health department is once again planning to start a drive, and a meeting is scheduled for Monday to discuss the issue.

One can easily see tobacco sellers offering pan masala, cigarettes near residential areas or in front of educational institutes without a check. The fact that the administration did not receive even a single complaint on the helpline started for the purpose proves that the ban was never implemented.

The ban was imposed on October 2, 2008, but since then the health department issued warnings to only one city club for not following the norms and challaned only 12 people for smoking at public places like Model Town, Mall Road, and the bus stand. As per the law, any person found smoking in public has to pay a minimum fine of Rs 200, but that has hardly deterred people because there is no one to implement the ban.

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• Smoking ban: 'We need more time' 

The federal smoking ban will not be fully enforced until bodies such as the Ministry of Health, police and municipalities determine who will be responsible for implementing the various parts of the legislation, senior health officials said yesterday.

The Ministry of Health disclosed some aspects of the law last month, but confusion has arisen over when and how the regulations will be enforced.

The ministry plans to issue an appendix to answer these questions, but has not said when it will do so. The law will take effect when the details are published by the Government.

For instance, it was announced that smoking in a car carrying a child under 12 will be illegal. However, it is hard to say who will enforce such as rule. Is it the police? Or road and transport authorities? Or the municipalities?

Senior health officials working on the law yesterday told The National they were hammering out the details.

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Tobacco addicts in Turkey smoke less after ban  

According to the figures of Tobacco & Alcohol Market Regulation Board, smoking ban in all indoor areas including cafes, bars and restaurants which went into effect in Turkey in July 2009 yielded favorable results.

5,392,945,420 packages of cigarettes had been sold and addicts smoked 107,858,908,399 cigarettes in Turkey in 2008.

5,377,748,810 packages were sold and addicts smoked 107,554,976,198 cigarettes in 2009, the figures showed.

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• Date for smoking ban is delayed  

A national ban on smoking in public places will be delayed while it is decided which government bodies will be responsible for enforcing various parts of the legislation, health officials said yesterday.

Key players involved in drafting the anti-smoking regulations told The National that the public will be fully informed once the details have been worked out, which could take weeks or months.

Discussions between bodies such as the Ministry of Health, police and individual municipalities will lead to decisions on how and when parts of the law come into force.

The Ministry of Health revealed some details of the new law last month but said the full system of rules would be outlined in an appendix to be released later this year.

Dr Mahmoud Fikri, the ministry's director of health legislation and policies, asked people to wait for clarification from the Government.

"There are many details to be finished," he said. "Technical committees will be set up to establish exactly how the law will be implemented."

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