Tobacco.org

Scottsville legislator goes to bat for burley  

A southcentral Kentucky lawmaker hopes that Kentucky burley is given its due when future trade agreements are negotiated between the United States and foreign countries.

"There is some discussion of excluding tobacco from the agreements," said state Rep. Wilson Stone, D-Scottsville.

On Tuesday, Stone filed a nonbinding House resolution that says Kentucky farmers need to have the same access to trade as other agriculture commodities. The measure is expected to be voted on soon. Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, filed the same resolution in the state Senate, signaling bipartisan support for the issue.

Stone said there have been rumors that President Barack Obama's administration wants to take tobacco out of the equation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, a regional trade agreement between the U.S., Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Those negotiations are expected to finish this summer.

"It's not so much a price issue, because world markets determine that, but one of access," Stone said. "If you take tobacco out of those agreements, it will dearly hurt Kentucky and Kentucky's farmers,"

Jump to full article »

• EDITORIAL: More cities set smoke-free examples for legislature  

Manchester and Somerset got 2012 off to a great start by going smoke free.

Corbin approved a smoke-free law late last year.

As a result, 34 percent of Kentuckians now live in places that protect them from secondhand smoke, according to the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy at the University of Kentucky.

This is a remarkable milestone in a state whose history has been so closely intertwined with tobacco.

While most people enjoy going out to eat without risking a lung-full of secondhand smoke, the real benefits will accrue to workers and businesses. . . .

No wonder the Kentucky Chamber of Commere has endorsed House Bill 289, Rep. Susan Westrom's legislation to clear the air statewide by ending smoking in enclosed public places.

We keep hearing that the bill won't go anywhere again this session because Kentucky is not ready for a statewide smoke-free law.

But judging from the strong advance of clean-air laws at the local level, it just might be that Kentucky is ahead of the legislature on this one.

Jump to full article »

Ky. legislators urge president to include burley tobacco in Pacific trade agreement 

Legislators have drafted a bipartisan resolution urging the Obama Administration to include burley tobacco in the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

On Tuesday, Rep. Wilson Stone, a Democrat from Scottsville, and Sen. Paul Hornback, a Republican from Shelbyville, introduced their resolution about the agreement being negotiated by the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

Stone said farmers are worried the administration in Washington will "bow to the pressure of anti-tobacco advocates in Congress" by excluding tobacco.

Almost all of the burley tobacco grown in the United States is grown for export, Wilson said, and "Kentucky grows the highest quality of burley in the world."

Stone said he is concerned that opponents in Congress and the administration want to use the trade agreement as a way to "drive a nail in the coffin" of the tobacco industry.

Jump to full article »

• Kentucky Lawmakers Urge Inclusion of Tobacco in Pacific Trade Agreement 

Kentucky lawmakers are protesting a current trade agreement that they say would hurt tobacco.

The U.S. is currently negotiating the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which includes countries like New Zealand, Peru and Vietnam. But the lawmakers say the proposal excludes tobacco protections.

At a news conference in Frankfort today, Democratic and Republican lawmakers urged President Barack Obama to add provisions for tobacco to the agreement.

Republican Agriculture Commissioner James Comer says including the crop will help Kentucky farmers.

“What we have to be able to do with tobacco is the same thing we’re doing with corn and beef cattle and horses in Kentucky,” Comer says. “We have to grow our export market. In order to do that we have to make sure tobacco is treated fairly along with every other crop in the United States in trade agreements.”

A letter supporting the inclusion of tobacco has been signed by all eight members of Kentucky’s federal delegation.

State Representative Wilson Stone has sponsored a resolution defending tobacco. He says the crop should be treated as an asset in negotiations over the trade agreement.

Jump to full article »

HealthSouth bans tobacco on campus  

HealthSouth Lakeview Rehabilitation Hospital in Elizabethtown has become tobacco-free.

The new policy began Wednesday with all designated on-campus smoking areas being eliminated.

Officials said in a statement that they understand the total ban might be a hardship for some people, but they made the change out of concern for the health and safety of patients, visitors and employees.

Jump to full article »

Legislative Detail: KY House Bill 289 - 2012 Regular Session 

Summary

Create new sections of KRS Chapter 438 to prohibit indoor smoking in businesses, places of employment, and other listed public places; exempt private residences, unless used for child care or adult day care; permit smoking in designated nonenclosed areas; require posting of "no smoking" signs as specified locations; permit political subdivisions of the Commonwealth to adopt stricter regulations by ordnance; provide for enforcement by all peace officers and health department employees; provide for the issuance of uniform citations for violation; require that employers and others not discriminate against persons reporting violations;

Jump to full article »

• Lawmakers Ponder Move to Make Kentucky Smoke-Free 

Smoking in restaurants, workplaces and other indoor public spots would be prohibited in Kentucky as part of a bill just introduced in the state Legislature.

House Bill 289, introduced by Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, would enact a statewide, indoor smoke-free policy to help protect nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Jodi Mitchell, executive director of Kentucky Voices for Health, says the policy champions a singular goal: to improve the health of all Kentuckians.

"That is not only individuals who go to businesses, but it's also individuals who work in businesses."

Tonya Chang, government relations director for the American Heart Association, says a coalition of groups known as Smoke Free Kentucky is working to push Westrom's bill through.

Jump to full article »

Long-time Newport restaurant goes smoke-free 

While efforts to make businesses throughout the area go smoke-free failed last year, some Campbell County bars and restaurants have made the decision to do so anyway.

Joining the ranks of other smoke-free by choice establishments like the Crazy Fox Saloon, Guys ‘n’ Dolls, Buckhead Mountain Grill, Dixie Chili and Brothers Bar & Grill, Sis’s Family Affair restaurant on Monmouth Street converted to smoke-free Jan. 1.

Owners Sandy Schweitzer and Clay Deaton said they made the choice because they felt it was best for their business and customers.

“A very small percentage of our customers smoke, and we have a lot of families and children that eat here,” Schweitzer said.

Jump to full article »

RAMSEY/CAPILOUTO: U of L, UK chiefs agree: Kentucky needs smoke-free law  

As Kentucky's public research universities, we often compete on the court but collaborate in the laboratory. Together, there is a great deal we are proud of -- work we do as institutions for the commonwealth we serve.

But now, it's critical that we join together to fight an opponent that's bigger and more important than anything we face on the court.

The fact is that Kentucky is on the wrong side of the rankings when it comes to our health. And one of the most important reasons is because smoking rates continue to remain among the highest in the nation.

But there are common-sense solutions. Smoke-free policies that prohibit smoking in public places protect everyone from the unnecessary risk of secondhand smoke by simply preventing smokers from lighting up around others. . . .

Jump to full article »

• Council passes smoking ban  

Pulaski County's largest city is now smoke-free.

Somerset City Council voted Monday evening on the second reading of Ordinance 12-02 that would ban smoking in all enclosed public areas within the city limits -- and the proposed ban passed with an 11-1 vote after councilors and Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler heard citizen comments from those who support the ban and from those who oppose it.

"I am really shocked at the fact that the City of Somerset is considering taking away the rights of businesses to make those decisions on whether we want our place of business to be smoking or non-smoking," stated local business owner Teresa Singleton. "For you to take that on your own, I think that's a major step in the wrong direction."

Jump to full article »

Somerset passes smoking ban  

Officials in Somerset have approved a smoking ban in the south-central Kentucky city.

Although there had been debate focusing on health issues and how much authority local governments should have, the City Council voted 11-1 on Monday to pass the ordinance that would ban smoking in enclosed public areas within the city.

Councilor Jim Rutherford, who was the lone vote against it, said his main concerns were with "government encroachment," the Commonwealth Journal reported (http://bit.ly/xALYNb ).

Others said it was a public health and safety issue and it was time for officials to take a stand.

The vote came after several people spoke for and against the proposal.

Jump to full article »

CAPILOUTO/RAMSEY: Statewide smoke-free law will aid Ky. health, economy 

The fact is that Kentucky is on the wrong side of the rankings when it comes to our health. And one of the most important reasons is because smoking rates continue to remain among the highest in the nation.

But there are common-sense solutions. Smoke-free policies that prohibit smoking in public places protect everyone from the unnecessary risk of secondhand smoke by simply preventing smokers from lighting up around others. . . .

This is why both of our university campuses are smoke-free. We have a vested interest in protecting the health of our students, faculty, staff and visitors from the risks associated with secondhand smoke exposure, namely cancer, heart disease, asthma and other breathing problems.

The health of all Kentuckians is in the best interest of our state for health and economics.

Jump to full article »

Lawmaker says statewide smoking ban has '50-50' chance 

For a second straight year, a Lexington lawmaker is proposing a statewide ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and public places in Kentucky.

Rep. Susan Westrom (D-Lexington) tells WHAS11 that this year's bill improves upon the 2011 proposal. She believes it has a "50-50" chance of passing. Last year's bill was not advanced out of committee.

"There's a romance with the tobacco industry," Westrom said, describing one of the hurdles the bill faces.

The ban is also opposed by defenders of property rights and civil liberties.

Jump to full article »

Bill to ban smoking state-wide introduced  

A bill introduced in the Kentucky House this week would ban smoking in public places and places of employment across the state.

House Bill 289 was co-sponsored by Reps. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, and Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville. Among other things, the bill says people can't smoke in enclosed public places or enclosed places of employment, or within 15 feet of entrances, exits, operable windows or ventilation intakes that serve enclosed areas where smoking is prohibited.

The bill was filed the same week that Kentucky received a report card on tobacco control from the American Lung Association's State of Tobacco Control 2012 report.

Jump to full article »

Fulkerson moves to smoke free campus 

A small plant fire at Dr. Gay Fulkerson’s office on January 12 became a catalyst for some significant changes at the practice.

Beginning February 1, 2012, Fulkerson would like to announce that the entire property will be smoke-free.

The changes are a result of the shock following the fire, which began in a planter near the facility’s front door after a burning cigarette was left in contact with the plant materials.

Jump to full article »