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Frankfort Regional Medical Center is going tobacco free - outdoors and in.
In conjunction with the American Cancer Society's 34th Great American Smokeout Challenge on Nov. 19, the local medical center is creating a tobacco free environment.
Administrators and medical staff believe the move is vital to promoting the health of patients, visitors, employees, volunteers, medical staff and others, according to a news release.
Tobacco use of any kind will not be permitted:
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The possibility of a smoking ban for the city of Middlesboro was discussed at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.
Council member Ronnie Carter said several citizens had asked him about the possibility of a smoking ban in the city. Carter said he wanted to bring the matter before the council to discuss and find out if it was something that they could vote on.
Carter expressed his opinion on the matter.
“I don’t have a big problem with [smoking],” said Carter, adding that he thought smokers were more courteous now to those who didn’t smoke.
Council members Rob Lincks and Gary Mills also voiced their opposition to a ban.
When asked by council, Safety Director James Pursifull said that no city building had a smoking ban. . . .
Middlesboro resident Angela Jackson addressed the council and urged them to consider non-smokers in the debate.
“You have to work out something where you’re fair to everybody,” said Jackson.
Council members agreed that in order for the matter to be voted on, concerned citizens would likely have to present a petition.
Today is the first business day since the smoking ban started. There are people who were strongly for the ban, against it, and those who are neutral.
Most supporters say it is a health issue, but others say their rights are being violated.
Harold Burchell smoked for 18 years. He gave up the habit, and is glad Prestonsburg restaurants are now smoke-free.
"I do believe people have a right to smoke, that would be their choice. However, I also understand the medical problems caused by smoking," Burchell said.
Jerry Stone is not a smoker, but says the ban doesn't really concern him one way or the other.
Smoking by women is one of the gravest preventive health concerns in Kentucky. While numerous smoking cessation and public health programs have been initiated to address the problem, Kentucky women continue to smoke in numbers that lead the nation and they are not quitting or even trying to quit, according to health experts at the University of Kentucky.
The median state prevalence of current smoking was 22.4 percent, but Kentucky prevalence is 34.7 percent (the next highest was West Virginia at 34 percent), while the median percent of daily smokers who quit is 39.8 percent - in Kentucky, it's only 28.9 percent, according to data from the Center for the Advancement of Women's Health at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
Further, the median percent of daily smokers who made a quit attempt was 58 percent, but in Kentucky it was only 43.4 percent.
"So we are not quitting in Kentucky," said Dr. Leslie Crofford, the center's director. "We're not even trying to quit."
City sidewalks adjacent to the University of Kentucky campus will not be covered by the university's upcoming smoking ban -- at least not soon.
Anthany Beatty, assistant vice president for campus services, asked the Urban County Council at its work session last week to let UK enforce its tobacco-free policy "to the curb."
A resolution adopting a memorandum of understanding with UK was placed on a special-meeting docket on Tuesday.
UK wants smoke-free to include sidewalks
Health advocates in Kentucky should follow the lead of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The new law will require cigarette packages to carry graphic pictures of disease caused by smoking, accompanied by stark warnings such as "Smoking can kill you," just in case the consumer didn't understand the picture.
Those health advocates need to draw the same kind of stark image for lawmakers in their bid to get the state to cough up more money for smoking cessation programs for Kentucky Medicaid patients. Apparently, a 2007 bill authorized such a program, but it was never funded. Meanwhile, Kentucky wallows in these misery-laden statistics:
No. 3 in the nation in adult smoking rates. (Yes, we fell from No. 1 to No. 3, but that's no cause for celebration.)
Highest cancer death rate in the country . . .
As it is, the health advocates who spoke out this week are not asking for the moon: They want the state to kick in $1.5 million, which would shake loose $3.5 million in federal funds, for Medicaid stop-smoking programs in Kentucky.
One advocate said it is penny-wise and pound-foolish for the state not to offer this life-saving service.
We wouldn't be that polite about it.
"Enacting the tobacco-free policy at the University of Kentucky in November will greatly improve the campus atmosphere for all members of our community," said UK President Lee T. Todd, Jr. "This policy has already created a healthier environment for patients, workers, and visitors at the UK HealthCare Medical Campus, and we look forward to the long-term benefits of its implementation throughout all areas of the UK campus."
The University of Kentucky campus will become completely tobacco-free on all campus grounds and parking areas on November 19, 2009, coinciding with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout®, held annually on the third Thursday in November. A tobacco-free policy, which prohibits the use of all tobacco products on all grounds and parking areas (cigarettes, chew, pipes, cigars, snuff, etc.), has already been in effect at the UK Medical Center and all UK HealthCare-owned facilities within Fayette County since November 20, 2008, and will now apply to all areas of the contiguous UK campus in Lexington, indoors and out. . . .
Frequently Asked Questions
-When does the tobacco-free policy go into effect?
November 19, 2009, in conjunction with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout.
In less than a month, though, one college campus will no longer allow any tobacco on its grounds-the University of Kentucky.
On Nov. 19, UK will join the American Cancer Society's Great American Smoke-Out initiative and will enact a completely tobacco-free policy. The policy will apply to all UK property within Fayette County, and to everyone on campus: students, faculty, visitors, etc.
The policy will eliminate all tobacco-related practices from the campus. People will not even be able to smoke a cigarette in their own cars.
"The goal is to promote a healthy environment so people can live, work and learn," said Ellen Hahn, the director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy.
Hahn said the Board of Trustees at UK has been discussing the move for several years. Currently, smoking is prohibited in or within 20 feet of all buildings. Last year, the UK Medical Center became completely tobacco-free.
"There has been very little push-back," Hahn said. "There has been a lot of positive support."
When the University of Kentucky campus goes smoke-free on Nov. 19, there's about a 4-foot wide loophole where people could still smoke.
It's the city sidewalks. The university's jurisdiction to ban smoking on campus stops at the edge of the sidewalk.
Anthany Beatty, assistant vice president for campus services, asked the Urban County Council at its Tuesday work session to allow UK to enforce its tobacco-free policy "to the curb." This would apply to sidewalks immediately adjacent to the main campus.
The council voted to put the resolution on its Oct. 22 docket for a first reading.
The university's medical center went smoke-free in November 2008, but people stand on the sidewalk to smoke, Beatty said.
City officials want to hear what business owners, residents and other stakeholders think about a proposed indoor smoking ban for Crestview Hills' restaurants, bars and offices.
Crestview Hills City Council's economic development and zoning committee will hold a public forum on the issue Nov. 10.
No decision will be made, and no ordinance will be presented.
"This is strictly for information gathering and educational purposes to determine where we go from here," said Crestview Hills City Councilman Dave Kramer, who chairs the economic development committee and zoning committee.
New studies out this fall are showing that heart attacks decline significantly after public smoking bans take effect. One year after passing smoking bans, communities in North America and Europe had 17 percent fewer heart attacks compared to communities without smoking restrictions, according to an analysis reported in the "Journal of the American Heart Association." After the initial 17 percent drop, the risk of heart attack declined even more in subsequent years.
Amy Barkley, regional director for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, says this is good news for Kentucky cities and counties that have passed smoke-free laws.
"What this says is that secondhand smoke is not just an annoyance. It is a very serious health threat and that smoke-free laws save lives."
Canada has given final approval to an anti-smoking law that Kentucky burley growers and lawmakers worry may spell an end to the market for the tobacco leaf north of the border.
The Canadian Senate passed the legislation Tuesday, and it received “royal assent” — final approval — on Thursday.
“This bill is a very important advance for public health in Canada,” said Rob Cunningham, senior policy analyst with the Canadian Cancer Society.
The bill, known as “The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act,” bans flavored tobacco products in Canada.
Burley is one of three kinds of tobacco mixed together with additives for blended tobacco. Some Kentucky lawmakers, led by Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, have written to American and Canadian officials that the bill’s ban on many of the additives used in blended tobacco effectively outlaws burley.
With 85 percent of U.S. burley exported, the implications of the Canadian action and possible similar actions by other nations are enormous, the Kentuckians warned.
Logan County will be a flurry of activity for the next week with the 53rd annual Tobacco & Heritage Festival.
The event kicks off with a Cougar Pancake Breakfast at 7 a.m. Saturday and includes a variety of events, including a Kiddie Parade, beauty contests, tours, music, concessions and Jesse James Bank Tours.
Festival chairwoman Patty Slaton said the event will feature new things this year.
"We're able to use the new 4-H Extension Complex for a lot of events," she said.
There will also be music and a movie at 6 p.m. Saturday at 4th Street Theatre, with the proceeds used for theater renovations, Slaton said. The Red River Fiddlers will perform at 6 p.m. followed by a showing of "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" starring Brad Pitt at 7 p.m. Concessions will be available. . . .
11 a.m.: Kiddie Parade, Third and Main streets
11:30 a.m.: Kiddie Fun & Chalk It Up, Russellville Recreation Center
1 p.m.: Little Mister & Miss Contest*, deGraffenried Auditorium, Russellville High School
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Recent heavy rains that soaked Kentucky delivered a late-season setback to some tobacco farmers as their leaf ripens, dampening their hopes for a bumper crop after a couple of drought years.
More than a half-foot of rain fell across part of the Bluegrass State last week as the bulk of the burley tobacco crop was curing in barns - an autumn ritual when the long, green leaves gradually change to reddish brown in a process that prepares the leaf for market.
The prolonged stretch of wet weather in the state that leads the nation in burley production at least briefly heightened the risk of tobacco being afflicted with mold or fungus that can rot away part of the leaf.
An hour and a half after hearing testimony, a Canadian Senate panel in Ottawa last week approved an anti-smoking bill that Kentucky burley tobacco growers fear may be bad for their business.
The bill, known as "The Cracking Down on Tobacco Marketing Aimed at Youth Act," passed the Senate Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee on a voice vote and without amendments. It now awaits final action in the Canadian Senate.
The measure is intended to ban flavored tobacco products in Canada, but burley growers are worried that the bill will end the export of American burley to Canada.
Burley is one of three kinds of tobacco mixed together with additives for blended tobacco. Some Kentucky lawmakers, led by Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-1st District, have written to American and Canadian officials that because the pending bill in the Canadian Parliament prohibits many of the additives used in blended tobacco, the measure effectively bans burley.