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In the US, the Michigan House of Representatives has voted 50 to 49 against Senate Substitute for House Bill 4163, which seeks to ban smoking in all public places, including the Detroit casinos.
For passage, the bill would require 56 votes. The House did decide to allow reconsideration of the bill and it thus could be brought up again in the future.
It does not appear that any action will be taken on the bill before the November 4 election.
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The Senate wants a total ban, while the House is prepared to accept some key exemptions like cigar bars, smoke shops and other logical places. If the House can't get its version through, it will fall back on the Senate version, and we will have a total smoking ban by the end of this current session.
There are some 85 members of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association in Michigan who may well be put out of business with such a total ban.
They are, for the most part, mom-and-pop businesses that sell premium cigars to their adult friends and neighbors. They are pillars of the communities they serve, they provide thousands of jobs and pay millions of dollars annually in payroll, sales and excise taxes.
Unfortunately, Michigan legislators and the general public are being deceived by the well-funded anti-smoking organizations into believing what they hear about second-hand smoke.
They need to read the 2006 Surgeon General's report, which clearly concludes that second-hand smoke should not be considered a legitimate health or environmental hazard. The report states no less than 108 times on its 707 pages that the evidence is inconclusive regarding the health aspects of second-hand smoke.
Even the Occupational Safety and Health Administration doesn't regard second-hand smoke an environment hazard.
Detroit's interim Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. is in Lansing to meet with Governor Granholm and state lawmakers. . . .
Cockrel talked to both Democrats and Republicans about a variety of pending legislation, including a proposed workplace smoking ban. He said a ban should include an exemption for Detroit's three casinos.
"I do support a smoking ban, but I think it's got to be a realistic smoking ban,'' Cockrel said at a press conference between meetings with lawmakers.
Michigan lawmakers still can't agree on how to ban smoking in workplaces including restaurants and bars.
A proposal calling for a comprehensive ban with no exemptions failed Tuesday in the Michigan House.� It fell six votes short of the 56 votes needed in the 110-member chamber.� That means a stalemate remains in place, and restaurants and bars can continue setting their own rules.
The Democrat-led House previously has supported legislation that carves out exemptions to the smoking ban for casinos and smoke shops.
The Republican-led Senate has passed legislation to ban smoking at all workplaces.
Concerns about the possible impact on Detroit's casinos led to the state House's narrow rejection Tuesday of a bill to ban smoking in all Michigan workplaces.
The ban -- which would affect casinos, bars, restaurants and even smoke shops -- garnered 50 votes, six short of the number needed for approval. Forty-nine members voted against it. Eleven were absent or abstained.
Opposition came primarily from Detroit lawmakers who said a ban would hurt casino revenue -- the city and state share that money -- and lawmakers who said the ban was a government overreach into citizens' lives.
The issue could be revisited later this year
The Michigan House Tuesday came up short in trying to pass legislation to ban smoking in all public places -- including bars, restaurants and Detroit's casinos. The vote was 50-49, with 56 votes needed for passage.
The House will reconsider the vote, perhaps as early as Wednesday. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said repeatedly she will sign the bill into law if it reaches her desk.
"I will fight to the finish to make sure we provide an atmosphere in this state (where) workers and non-workers, the good and the bad, will be in a safe clean atmosphere," Rep. Brenda Clack . . .
The Michigan Restaurant Association and the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association were outspoken critics of the legislation, arguing that decisions about smoking policies are best left to business owners and their patrons.
Michigan lawmakers still can't decide whether a proposed workplace smoking ban should have exemptions for certain businesses.
A proposal calling for a comprehensive ban with no exemptions failed Tuesday in the Michigan House. It fell six votes short of the 56 votes needed for approval in the 110-member chamber.
That means a stalemate remains in place, and restaurants and bars can continue setting their own rules.
Legislators should be proud to send a unified message that we are protecting the health and well-being of every resident and visitor who patronizes public facilities in Michigan. Those who argue on behalf of the employees' preference should survey whether employees would choose a smoke-free environment over the threat of losing their jobs through a resulting downsizing.
How viable is a cigar and martini bar if you can't smoke cigars? As for casinos, prior to a 2006 smoking ban at Casino Windsor, many U.S. citizens chose the Canadian facility over Detroit's largely due to the favorable currency exchange rate they enjoyed.
After the ban took effect, those patrons immediately returned to Detroit's gaming facilities. . . .
After voters approved their existence, the casinos invested nearly $2 billion in Detroit and Michigan, and contributed nearly $200 million to Detroit in gaming revenue last year alone.
The three Detroit casinos provide more property and income tax revenue to the state than any other Michigan gaming facility. Approaching another significant budget deficit, we as legislators are responsible for remaining focused on improving Michigan's economy for the hard-working families who are depending on it.
BERT JOHNSON represents Detroit's 5th district in the Michigan House of Representatives.
An indoor smoking ban in Michigan bars, restaurants and other workplaces could have a tough time becoming law absent an exemption for Detroit's three commercial casinos.
A prohibition on all indoor workplace smoking failed Tuesday to gather the 56 House votes necessary to send it to Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who would sign it into law.
Another vote on the measure, which would take effect around April 1, 2009, may be delayed until after the November election. Granholm said Tuesday she would endorse any smoking ban that hits her desk.
Tuesday's 50-49 vote to make Michigan the 35th state to bar workplace smoking fell short after Detroit Democrats failed to support the measure.
On the first day of school, Bay City Central High School's police liaison officer wrote 11 tickets to underage students who were smoking cigarettes.
Since then a total of at least 25 tickets have been written, said Darren Smithers of the Bay City Police Department.
''I catch them all over,'' said Smithers, who started as the school officer last year.
Sometimes they're behind The Bay City Players building at 1214 Columbus Ave., sometimes they're in ''Smokers' Alley'' on Hampton Street near 10th, sometimes they're sitting in their cars, and sometimes they're just walking down the sidewalk, he said.
According to Chris McCalla, legislative director of the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, his organization has learned that the Michigan state legislature will likely reopen debate on a proposed statewide smoking ban based on allegedly erroneous information provided by well-funded anti-smoking forces.
Michigan's State Representatives and Senators have been deadlocked on a proposal for several months with each preferring their own version of such a ban. McCalla believes the two chambers are working to approve a statewide smoking ban by the end of this current session.
"IPCPR members are owners and employees of neighborhood smoke shops across Michigan, throughout the United States and the world where premium, handmade cigars are sold to adult consumers," said McCalla. "Their customers are friends and neighbors who enjoy the pleasures of a good cigar... and they are voters," he added.
McCalla noted that most cigar stores are family-owned small businesses led by mom-and-pop operators who are pillars of the communities they serve, providing thousands of jobs and paying millions of dollars annually in payroll, sales and excise taxes.
According to McCalla, Michigan legislators and the general public are being deceived by the well-funded anti-smoking organizations into believing what they hear about second-hand smoke.
"They need to read the 2006 Surgeon General's Report which clearly concludes that second-hand smoke should not be considered a legitimate health or environmental hazard. Biased media reports, slanted statements by anti-tobacco groups and even deliberately erroneous press releases from the Surgeon General's office contradict the actual findings of the Report," he said.
Earlier this year, the Michigan Senate voted to adopt a statewide smoke-free air law designed to cover all Michigan workplaces, including bars, restaurants and casinos. We call on the House of Representatives to protect all workers by backing this legislation, also known as House Bill 4163.
As student physicians, we have become all too familiar with the detrimental impact of cigarette smoke on our future patients. . . .
We call on House Speaker Andy Dillon to allow a vote. There has been enough procrastination on this issue. The only way to truly safeguard Michigan workers from the deadly risks of secondhand smoke is to adopt a comprehensive smoke-free law for all workplaces.
A proposed statewide ban on smoking in public and work places could light up the Legislature by next week, as antismoking forces push for action before lawmakers recess Sept. 25 until after the November election.
A final attempt to reach a compromise between the House and Senate will determine whether a smoking ban applies not only to bars and restaurants but also to cigar bars, bingo halls and Detroit's casinos.
House Speaker Andy Dillon, D-Redford Township, said if a compromise isn't reached with Senate Republicans, the House will vote on a bill to ban smoking in all public places, something the Senate already has passed.
Federal investigators went undercover to break up a scheme to peddle millions of illegal cigarettes and avoid Michigan's $2-a-pack tax.
The loss to state coffers: more than $1.6 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"This is a group of people involved in trafficking for quite some time," spokesman George Krappmann said Tuesday. "Anytime the state of Michigan loses tax revenue, it's significant."
An indictment unsealed last week in federal court says the cigarettes were delivered to small stores in the Detroit area, sometimes from the trunk of a Mercedes-Benz car. . . .
The main defendant is Akram Allos, 54, of Sterling Heights, who is repeatedly described in the indictment as buying cigarettes from an informant and an undercover agent. His largest haul: 949,000 cigarettes on Oct. 10, 2007, according to the indictment.
Allos was unavailable for comment at his home Tuesday. A message was left with his attorney, Jeffrey Collins.
IONIA - In an effort to improve the health and welfare of those in Ionia County, some local workplaces are making efforts to curb the use of tobacco products.
At Thursday's community liaison meeting, Dave Johnson, Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility Assistant Deputy Warden of Custody and Programs, said efforts are underway to eliminate tobacco use in the state's prisons.
Some of the methods being employed by prisons include the use of special programs, utilizing guest speakers, offering quitting aids such as lozenges and offering other items and support for inmates and corrections workers.
"We've reduced the amount of tobacco prisoners can order every couple of months," he said. . . .
Hospitals, including Ionia County Memorial Hospital, are also making efforts to curb smoking.