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EDITORIAL: Our View: As the smoke clears in Alexandria, a positive result 

ALEXANDRIA'S BAN on smoking and the use of other tobacco products has had a pronounced effect on the air quality in a dozen bars and gaming establishments, a new study shows. The study found that air samples taken inside the facilities were 36 times cleaner and had a reduction of 97 percent of particulate matter, compared with samples taken before the ban was enacted on Jan. 1. The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, which worked with the city on its ordinance, released the results, as analyzed by the LSU Health Sciences Center's School of Public Health.

WE THINK: Clean air speaks for itself, and Dr. David Holcombe, medical director for Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Region 6, added the exclamation point. "From a public health standpoint, this" -- he said, pointing to the pre-ban toxin levels displayed on a chart -- "causes cancer, and this" -- pointing to the levels new study -- "doesn't."

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• Alexandrians are breathing easier, air-quality study confirms 

The ban on smoking in bars and gaming establishments in Alexandria has made an immediate impact on air quality in those venues, a study released on Wednesday shows.

The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living released the results of a study of air quality levels at 12 city bars on Jan. 6. The Alexandria City Council voted last year to ban smoking in all city bars and gaming establishments effective Jan. 1.

The data collected in the study was analyzed by the LSU Health Sciences Center's School of Public Health in New Orleans. The study showed that air inside the facilities is now 36 times cleaner and has seen a reduction of 97 percent of the particulate matters in the air.

Dr. Daniel Harrington, an occupational health and air quality professor at LSU Health Sciences Center's School of Public Health in New Orleans, said a study of smoking bars in Alexandria before the ban showed that air quality levels were nearly double what the Environmental Protection Agency considers "hazardous" levels.

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St. Francis wins state grant for anti-tobacco efforts  

Monroe's St. Francis Medical Center will use a grant awarded by the state's health department for tobacco cessation and control programs.

The grant award, announced Tuesday by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, provides funds to health care facilities committed to using research-based strategies for tobacco prevention, control and awareness, empowering citizens to make healthy lifestyle choices and reduce tobacco use.

St. Francis was one of nine hospitals that applied, and one of four that was awarded funding, according to a DHH news release.

The other recipients were CHRISTUS Schumpert Health System of Shreveport, Women & Children's Hospital of Lake Charles and Ochsner Clinic Foundation of New Orleans, the release stated.

"We're very pleased that we've been chosen as one of the four recipients," said Louis Bremer, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis Medical Center. "It will enable us to further our efforts on trying to make a positive impact on the health status of our community as a whole and, more specifically, having a positive impact relative to reducing the number of people who smoke, reducing secondhand smoke, getting people who smoke to quit (or) using smoke-free tobacco products to quit, and hopefully creating enough education (for) others who may be thinking about smoking to never start."

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Alexandria bar owners mixed over city's smoking ban 

Clyde Bennett fought to prevent a smoking ban in Alexandria bars, and he's going to keep fighting.

"I didn't do a good job," Bennett, the owner of Sharkey's Sports Bar & Grill, said of his lobbying to prevent a citywide ban on smoking in bars.

"The decision was pre-made. It was gonna pass regardless," he said.

The Alexandria City Council passed the ban in October, and it went into effect early Sunday morning. Many bars in the city reopened Monday for the first time since the ban became effective.

Bennett and some of his staff members talked Monday afternoon about how the new ordinance will affect Sharkey's and other bars in the city.

"It's gonna hurt my business," Bennett said. "We've got three chairs here where normally on a Monday are full of people having a beer and a cigarette."

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Our View: Alexandria's no-smoking ordinance will test smokers, nonsmokers and employers 

The city's approach, while not unique, puts Alexandria in the vanguard of the smoke-free movement that has gained traction in many states. Complementing the city's proactive policy is that of Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital, which has a smoke-free campus and is en route to having a smoke-free staff by July; and that of Rapides Regional Medical Center, which has similar policies.

Health interests and good intentions certainly are driving forces. So are liability concerns tied to policies regarding tobacco products, including those related to second- and third-hand smoke.

The city ordinance calls for multi-pronged enforcement: by police and code officers, by employers and employees, and by customers and visitors.

Whether you smoke or not, the city ordinance affects you -- for the better, we hope.

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'Smoke-Free' celebration tonight at GG's in Alexandria 

GG's Club, at 7521 Coliseum Blvd. near Alexandria, is inviting the public to ring in the "Smoke-Free New Year" with a New Year's Eve party at the club tonight.

The party, scheduled for 8:30 p.m. today to 3 a.m. Sunday, is sponsored by LetsBeTotallyClear.org, a campaign of The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living that is attempting to get smoking banned at bars and casinos throughout the state.

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• City Notebook: Take a deep breath, Alexandria: It's a (smoke-free) new year  

The city's new, expanded smoking ban took effect at 12:01 a.m. today.

Smoking and the use of other tobacco products no longer will be allowed in any bar in the city of Alexandria. In addition, both are banned from gaming establishments such as bingo halls, all public workplaces in the city and within 25 feet of any public park or city building.

An official for the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living has applauded the city's law, which the organization said protects "innocent third parties" from second-hand smoke.

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DHH clinics go tobacco free 

Starting New Year's Day state-operated community behavioral health clinics in Region 8 will become tobacco free.

Patrons and employees will not be allowed to light-up or use any tobacco products on the grounds of these northeast Louisiana state-operated clinics: Monroe Behavioral Health Clinic, Tallulah Behavioral Health Clinic, Ruston Behavioral Health Clinic, Columbia Behavioral Health Clinic and the Bastrop Behavioral Health Clinic.

The new policy is part of DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein's initiative to help make Louisiana healthier, this includes making all DHH campuses tobacco free.

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LETTER: Moving forward to smoke-free La.  

Congratulations to the city of Alexandria and the Southern University System on promoting better health and longer life with their recent decision to ban tobacco use. . . .

At Ochsner, we understand that individuals may need help to quit smoking. Our staff provides support, information and encouragement for employees and patients seeking to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Again, we here at Ochsner commend the leaders of Alexandria and the Southern University System for putting the health of the communities they serve first. Employees can work, students can learn and children can play in healthier environments. We encourage other businesses, cities and universities to join this growing trend and adopt smoke-free workplaces.

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State challenges ex-official’s suit over dismissal  

Attorneys for the Governor’s Office and two other state agencies urged a judge Monday to throw out former Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commissioner Murphy Painter’s wrongful-termination and defamation claims.

The attorneys argued Painter’s public service came to an end in the summer of 2010 — and that he was the focus of a scathing report by the state Office of Inspector General earlier this year — because of his own misdeeds.

A lawyer representing Painter, however, asked state District Judge Janice Clark not to dismiss Painter’s claims that he was fired illegally and defamed, but to allow Painter to have his day in court in front of a jury so he can “clear his name.’’ Painter is seeking reinstatement.

The judge took the arguments from all sides under advisement without indicating when she would issue a ruling.

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East Jeff, West Jeff hospitals to enact smoking ban early next year  

Early next year, it will be even harder for people to light up and smoke a cigarette inside two of Jefferson Parish's largest hospitals.

East Jefferson General Hospital and West Jefferson Medical Center announced Thursday that both of their facilities will go 100 percent smoke-free starting February 12, 2012.

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Smokers: Risks and Rights Part 1  

If you're a smoker or even if you're not, you probably noticed there are less places these days where smoking is allowed. In part, that's because of a group called the Louisiana Campaign For Tobacco Free Living

"This is about giving employees the opportunity to breathe clean air like everyone else has."

Carrie Griffin Broussard is a spokeswoman for the organization. She says the city of Alexandria has been at the head of the line when it comes to being smoke free. Even though the law doesn't exist on a state level, Alexandria has passed an ordinance banning smoking in any bar.

Broussard says, "Again, Alexandria has really lead the way and we think that's great: And you know it's interesting, when the media covers this, there is a lot of talk about how upset smokers are, but that's really not the case and we find that smokers tell us, we don't have a problem just stepping outside, we get it." . . .

Tomorrow night, we'll talk to a smoker whose habit landed him in medical trouble but he says he doesn't think anyone's rights should be infringed upon.

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Smoking cessation programs involve medicine, counseling, support  

What: Great American Smokeout promotion. When: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday. Martin Luther King Health Center, 827 Margaret Place, Suite 201, Shreveport. Sponsor: Shreveport Black Nurses Association. Info: 227-2912. . . .

The 10th time was the charm for Everson, a Shreveport City Council member. He turned to acupuncture combined with counseling in May and has been cigarette-free ever since. He says his wife's pregnancy, along with coping strategies suggested by the doctor he saw, helped him stay on track.

Thursday, health advocates will encourage people to give up tobacco products -- or least make a plan to quit -- during the Great American Smokeout. The 34-year-old national event sponsored by the American Cancer Society grew out of scattered stop-smoking efforts around the United States in the early 1970s.

"There's nothing good about smoking," said Katheryn Arterberry, president of the Shreveport Black Nurses Association. "Smoking affects every system in the body. Smoking cessation helps everything from the lungs to the kidneys and with illness prevention in the family and with finances. I'm looking at the entire picture."

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Alexandria tobacco users are unhappy with new law 

Smokers in Alexandria will have to leave local tobacco stores to light up the products they just bought there.

At least 25 feet from the stores to be exact, starting Jan. 1 after the Alexandria City Council passed an ordinance Oct. 4 banning smoking in businesses previously exempt from state and local smoking bans, including bars and tobacco stores.

And some tobacco users are not happy.

"They think the City Council way overstepped their boundaries," said Vonne Neal, owner of Alexandria's Smoke Shop." With all the problems the city has, this is what they're focusing on?"

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Editorial: Be leaders against smoking's toll  

Lafayette and Alexandria were among the first Louisiana cities to adopt bans on smoking in most public places before the Louisiana Legislature stepped in to make the ban statewide.

Now Alexandria has pushed forward again, extending the ban to bars and gambling venues, which were previously immune there and remain so in Lafayette, Opelousas and elsewhere in the state. . . .

As we said, the opponents respond that yes, smoking is dangerous, but grownups should be allowed to make their own choices. So the nanny state shouldn't be looking over their shoulders, and people should be able to smoke or decide whether to patronize businesses that allow smoking.

Even if we were inclined to overlook the impact of your smoking on our health care costs, our health insurance premiums, and our taxes to support Medicare and Medicaid, the personal freedom argument just doesn't take into account those who lack the same choice.

They're the people who tend bar, play in the band, deal cards in casinos and the like. Can we really say -- should we say -- that if they don't like the smoke, they can get different jobs? No, our poor choices shouldn't force that kind of decision on anyone, not when an estimate 750 people die in Louisiana each year because of second-hand smoke. It's time to announce "last call" for smoking in bars and casinos in Acadiana towns and trust that the Legislature will see the light.

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