Tobacco.org

• 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 »

Website explains new NC smoking law  

Governor Bev Perdue has launched a new website to help implement the upcoming smoking ban that requires restaurants, bars, and lodging establishments that serve food and drink to go smoke-free at the start of 2010.

The website, www.SmokeFree.NC.gov, provides business owners and customers information on the new law which begins January 2. 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. Perdue in a statement. "By banning smoking in our restaurants and bars, we will greatly reduce the dangers of secondhand smoke and lower health care costs for families."

Perdue said her goal is to make sure NC residents have the information they need about the hazards of second-hand smoke and how to implement the new law.

Jump to full article »

A NC City Council Considers Sidewalk Smoking Ban 

Charlotte, NC --�The city council in North Carolina's largest city is considering a smoking ban for some public sidewalks.

North Carolina will ban smoking in restaurants and bars next year. The Charlotte Observer reported Thursday that Central Piedmont Community College has asked Charlotte City Council to ban smoking on some sidewalks that intersect with the campus.

The new smoking law takes effect Jan. 2 and allows local governments to ban smoking in public parks but officials say it's not clear that sidewalks are included.

Jump to full article »

CPCC looks into feasibility of no smoking on campus side walks  

CPCC student Matt Mclain is a smoker. He's not too happy his college will go tobacco free in two months.

"It's just taking one of our freedoms away, we have the right to smoke," said McClain.

When the smoking ban goes into effect in Januray 2nd there will be no smoking anywhere on campus the problem is CPCC is in the heart of Charlotte. Meaning smokers can light up just ten feet away from a campus building on the side walk.

So CPCC looked into that issue.

"We asked the city if they had the ability or the authority to make the part of the Elizabeth Avenue that goes through our central campus tobacco free as well," said Jessica Graham, Assistant to the President.

Meaning a smoker wouldn't be able to go to the side walk on Elizabeth Avenue between Kinks Drive and Charlottetown Avenue and light up.

Jump to full article »

'Private club' narrowly defined in smoking ban 

Some bar owners and managers across North Carolina think they have found an escape clause in the state's new smoking ban.

State officials are about to snuff out those plans.

Ann Houston Staples, the Charlotte-based communications director for the state's anti-smoking efforts, said health officials are encountering bar operators who think that, as a private club or by becoming a private club, they can still let customers smoke.

"I'm getting spooked, because everybody I talk to said the place they go to is going to become a private club," said Staples, director of public education and communication for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Staples is part of a team assembling an information packet that will go out in the coming weeks to businesses affected by the ban, including bars. The mailing will include a letter that explains the law and offers other material, such as free "No Smoking" signs.

The ban on smoking in bars and restaurants that the legislature passed this year takes effect Jan. 2 and does include an exemption for private clubs, but it defines them as country clubs or nonprofits, such as an Elks Lodge.

Jump to full article »

Tobacco delegation from China to visit NC  

More than 20 people representing China's tobacco industry are visiting North Carolina to learn more about the state's homegrown product.

State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler will host the 22-person delegation on Saturday afternoon at the State Fair in Raleigh.

Jump to full article »

State battles wishful thinking on smoking ban  

Some bar owners and managers across the state think they have found an escape clause in the state's new smoking ban.

State officials are about to snuff out those plans.

Ann Houston Staples, the Charlotte-based communications director for the state's anti-smoking efforts, said health officials are encountering bar operators who think that, as a private club or by becoming a private club, they can still let customers smoke.

"I'm getting spooked, because everybody I talk to said the place they go to is going to become a private club," said Staples, director of public education and communication for the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Staples is part of a team assembling an information packet that will go out in the coming weeks to businesses affected by the ban, including bars. The mailing will include a letter explaining the law and other material, such as free "No Smoking" signs.

Jump to full article »

Smoking ban on government facilities in Pender stalls 

BURGAW - A proposed ban on smoking on government grounds in Pender County found little support from the county commissioners.

Pender County Health Director Dr. Jack Griffith appeared before the board Monday night saying the Health Board had unanimously recommended that the commissioners adopt an ordinance prohibiting tobacco use on county owned property.

Commissioner Norwood Blanchard said he is an ex-smoker but was apprehensive about passing a local ordinance that was more restrictive than the state law.

Jump to full article »

• No lighting up, even on sidewalk?  

Jarred Postell, a smoker, says he thinks people should be allowed to smoke outside, so he doesn't support the idea of a ban on lighting up on a section of Elizabeth Avenue.

When N.C. restaurants and bars go smoke-free at the start of 2010, smokers might find another place they aren't welcome: part of Elizabeth Avenue and its sidewalks.

Central Piedmont Community College campuses are going tobacco-free next year, and the school asked the city of Charlotte to ban smoking on Elizabeth Avenue from Kings Drive to Charlottetown Avenue, where it bisects its central campus.

If the City Council approves the ban, Charlotte would be among the first cities in the country to ban smoking on a city sidewalk or street.

Jump to full article »