Tobacco.org

Bald Head Island considers adding to smoking ban 

Bald Head Island may soon take advantage of the state's new anti-smoking law by putting its own ban into effect.

The state law will forbid smoking in most bars and restaurants and will also allow local municipalities to broaden their own smoking bans. It goes into effect Jan. 2.

The ordinance being considered at Bald Head Island in Brunswick County would ban smoking in any government building and government grounds, in any government-owned or government-controlled vehicle, and in any public place, defined as an enclosed area to which the public is invited or permitted.

Private homes and vehicles, tobacco shops, cigar bars, private clubs, designated smoking rooms of a lodging establishment and actors "portraying the use of tobacco products" would not be affected.

Jump to full article »

• Lights out! Smoking ban nears  

Starting in January, if you want to smoke a cigarette during a night on the town at any of Macon's eating and drinking establishments, you will have to drag your butts outside.

The state's smoking ban in bars and restaurants will go into effect on Jan. 2, 2010.

Becky Barr, health education program supervisor and environmental health supervisor Barry Patterson with the Macon County Public Health Center explained the new rules and how they will be enforced at the health board's Nov. 10 meeting.

Barr said one of the goals as they get closer to the enactment date of "North Carolina's Smoke-Free Restaurants and Bars Law" (House Bill 2) is to educate restaurant owners and the public about the legislation.

The gist of the law, which passed in May, is that all North Carolina restaurants and bars permitted to serve food and beverages must be smoke free come Jan. 2.

Jump to full article »

Adult smoke rate in U.S. up 

The slight increase in the smoking rate comes at a time when the tobacco industry experienced a 12.6 percent decline in cigarette shipment volume during the third quarter. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. reported an 11 percent decline to 20.6 billion cigarettes.

A separate CDC report found that 20.9 percent of North Carolinians smoked in 2008, which ranked the state 14th in smoking use among residents.

Brad Rodu, the endowed chairman of the Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University at the University of Louisville, said he is not surprised that the smoking rate is at a plateau.

"Smoking has not declined because the CDC and the American Cancer Society continue to promote only nicotine and tobacco abstinence, which has failed miserably," Rodu said.

Jump to full article »

County officials weigh possibility of additional smoking restrictions  

Local county health officials are considering new smoking restrictions once the statewide ban on puffing in bars and restaurants takes effect Jan. 2.

Largely overlooked during the debate over the law, which puts an end to smoking inside in most bars and restaurants, a provision in the new ban will extend the power of local governments to pass their own ordinances to snuff out smoking.

In the existing law, cities and counties in North Carolina can only ban smoking inside local government buildings, around health departments or departments of social services and on public transportation vehicles.

When the new smoking law takes effect, local governments can restrict smoking in more places if they want.

Jump to full article »

North Carolinians must find new places to light up in the new year 

Come the new year, Elon students and Alamance County residents will notice there is something less smelly in the air when entering restaurants and bars throughout the state.

North Carolina's new law requires enclosed areas of restaurants and bars to be smoke-free by Jan. 2. The smoking ordinance, passed in May, bans smoking in any establishment where food or drinks are prepared for profit.

Alamance County will see many changes in the food service establishments, with 300 sit-down restaurants and 100 food stands that currently allow smoking in some or all parts of their facilities.

"A lot of restaurant owners wanted to (go smoke-free) before, and now they are more than willing to comply with the law," said Barry Bass, director of the Alamance County Health Department.

Jump to full article »

CAMPBELL: Golden Leaf Foundation has never lived up to its promise 

When the Golden Leaf Foundation was formed to receive 50 percent of North Carolina's portion of tobacco settlement funds, there were great hopes this organization would make a significant impact on a state affected by the decline of the golden leaf. The foundation has never lived up to its promise and a recent audit by State Auditor Beth Wood indicates more than a few serious issues.

Golden Leaf's problems were obvious from the beginning. . . .

Residents are justified to ask what we have received for the $800 million this organization has received to date. A strong case can be made that the benefits don't justify the expenditures, that inadequate management controls and undue political influence might indicate we go back to the drawing board and come up with a new approach that does not have so many inherent problems. At a minimum we need more accountability, better controls, less political influence and a new vision. We don't often get the chance to receive $2.5 billion. It is imperative that we get maximum benefit from the remaining $1.5 billion projected to be received in this fund between now and 2025.

Jump to full article »

'Smoke Free for Baby and Me' campaign to raise awareness of health benefits of quitting smoking 

November is "The Great American Smokeout Month" and the Macon County Public Health Center is supporting a campaign to raise awareness of the immediate health benefits of quitting smoking with pregnant women and mothers with young children.

Stopping smoking is probably the single most effective step a pregnant woman can take to improve her own health and that of her baby, according to the Centers for Disease Control director. If you are pregnant and smoke:

-- You double the chances that your child will be born with a low birth weight.

Jump to full article »

2 N.C. judges nominated for 4th Circuit 

Albert Diaz

Albert Diaz, 48

HOMETOWN: New York City, now lives in Charlotte.

CURRENT JOB: Special Superior Court judge for complex business cases, one of three in North Carolina.

EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree, University of Pennsylvania, 1983; New York University School of Law, 1988; Master's in Business Administration, Boston University, 1993.

EXPERIENCE: U.S. Marine Corps Legal Services Support Section and U.S. Navy Office of the Judge Advocate General. Left active duty in the Marine Corps in 1995 and worked as an associate at Hunton & Williams law firm. Appointed to the N.C. Superior Court in 2001. Served as a reserve military judge in the U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary until he retired from the military in 2006 at the rank of Lt. Colonel. . . .

He left the service in 1995 for private practice. He made a name for himself at the law firm of Hunton & Williams representing Philip Morris during tobacco lawsuits in the late 1990s.

Jump to full article »

• State auditor critical of Golden LEAF Foundation 

A foundation that distributes North Carolina's tobacco settlement money broke the law by approving a $15 million grant behind closed doors, State Auditor Beth Wood said Monday.

In a report, Wood accused the Golden LEAF Foundation of repeatedly restricting and delaying her access to records of the foundation's meetings and investments.

That is worrisome, Wood said.

State lawmakers set up Golden LEAF, which stands for the Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation, in 1999 to manage the proceeds of a historic settlement with cigarette makers.

The Rocky Mount-based foundation has received $706.5 million

Jump to full article »

I-Team investigates smoking rules at Charlotte airport  

An investigation by the Newschannel 36 I-Team reveals a burning controversy at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

It's no secret that after a long flight, smokers are looking for a place to light up. But at the same time, non-smokers want the smoke kept away from them.

On three separate trips to the airport, our cameras watched as travelers lit up in areas that were off limits. It was not an isolated problem. Our I-Team saw smokers over and over and over again, all breaking the rules in the most public of places.

There are signs posted outside -- on the curb, on walls, and on the ceiling -- all warning people of no-smoking areas, and directing smokers to the courtesy smoking points. Yet we found smokers disregarding those signs time after time.

"When you're waiting for a ride to pick you up and you have no choice but to stand outside, you're stuck there with the smokers," said Monica Godshall, a frequent traveler who tipped off NewsChannel 36 to the problem.

During our investigation, we saw people smoking in front of children and in crowded areas. And it's not just travelers. We saw workers breaking the rules, too. We took the problem to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport Aviation Director Jerry Orr. He told us the airport is aware of the problem, and they frequently get complaints from people on both sides of the issue.

Jump to full article »

EDITORIAL: North Carolina goes smoke-free. Why can’t we?  

The logic of restricting smoking in public places is undeniable. The overwhelming majority of people don’t smoke. They have the right to breathe clean air, not someone else’s dangerous and dirty tobacco smoke. Smokers argue that markets, not the government, should dictate how business is conducted. It’s a specious argument. We don’t allow companies to spew poison into the air or water simply because they can make money doing it and their customers don’t object. The U.S. Surgeon General reports that secondhand smoke kills about 38,000 people every year and sickens hundreds of thousands of others. Restaurants and bars are among businesses that are least likely to provide health insurance to their employees, so when their workers get sick from the effects of secondhand smoke, the rest of us get stuck with the tab for their care. Workplace smoking may be good for tobacco companies’ bottom lines, but it is hazardous to the rest of us. Non-smokers on Tobacco Road in North Carolina soon will have more rights than non-smokers in Missouri. This is crazy.

Jump to full article »

• Cancer institute studies smokeless tobacco 

Is using smokeless tobacco just as harmful as smoking, or is it potentially a safer option?

Getting a definitive answer to that question has proved elusive despite centuries of medical research.

Resolving the issue, and providing clarity amid the heated rhetoric, has prompted a new series of medical studies sponsored by the National Cancer Institute.

One set focuses on whether such smokeless products as snus and the dissolvable products from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., provide "a truly less-harmful alternative to conventional tobacco products, both at the individual and population level," according to the institute's grant application.

Another set, including one that was started Sept. 1 at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, is aimed at developing strategy to encourage reduced use or even quitting smokeless-tobacco products. Wake Forest is receiving a $2.9 million grant for its study.

Maura Payne, a spokeswoman for Reynolds, said that the company supports "well-designed studies" that could help develop science-based, tobacco-harm-reduction strategies." Payne said that Reynolds does not promote its new smokeless products as a way to quit smoking.

The institute said that the studies are necessary because "previous tobacco-use reduction efforts pursued by the public-health community were disadvantaged by incomplete knowledge and methods for evaluating the health impact of modified tobacco products."

Jump to full article »

VIDEO: Perdue announces launch of new website, smokefree.nc.gov 

North Carolina Governor Bev Perduce announced the launch of a new website devoted to help implement North Carolina's new law that requires restaurants, bars and lodging establishments that serve food and drink to go smoke-free as of January 2, 2010.

The website, http://www.SmokeFree.NC.gov, offers business owners and customers information on the new law, hazards of secondhand smoke, and resources to help those smokers who may want to quit smoking. It has downloadable fact sheets, no-smoking signs and other tools dedicated to make the transition to smoke-free air an easy one.

Jump to full article »

SmokeFree.NC.gov 

House Bill 2 Goes Into Effect Jan. 2, 2010

Welcome

The Law

Proposed Rules

Frequently Asked Questions

Tools for Businesses

Educational Materials

Secondhand Smoke

Quitting Tobacco Use

Contact Us: Local Health Departments

Complaint Form: Reporting Violation(s)

Jump to full article »

• New Web Site Provides Info On Upcoming Smoking Ban  

A new government Web site has been launched to ease the transition with a new law that requires restaurants, bars and lodging establishments that serve food and drink to go smoke-free as of January 2, 2010.

The Web site, www.SmokeFree.NC.gov, provides business owners and customers information on the new law, on the health hazards of secondhand smoke and on resources to help those smokers who may want to quit smoking. There are downloadable fact sheets, no-smoking signs and other tools to help make the transition to smoke-free air an easy one.

"This change is historic for North Carolina and will have a significant positive impact on public health," said Gov. Bev Perdue. "By banning smoking in our restaurants and bars, we will greatly reduce the dangers of secondhand smoke and lower health care costs for families. Our goal is to make sure North Carolina's families and businesses have the information they need about the hazards of second-hand smoke and how to implement the new law."

The new law (G.S. 130A-497) was passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Bev Perdue in May, and will make virtually all indoor areas of restaurants and bars in the state smoke-free, with very few exceptions.

Jump to full article »