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• 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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'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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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• 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.

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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.

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EDITORIAL: Health incentives 

The State Employees Health Plan is about to reward people who take better care of their own health with lower costs. Those who smoke, or who are obese, will pay more. Beginning July 1, 2010, the 600,000 state employees, retirees and teachers in the plan will be enrolled in either of two packages. In one, they will pay 20 percent of their medical costs. In the other, 30 percent. Also starting that day, smokers will be enrolled in the more expensive program. . . .

North Carolina is not breaking new ground here. It is doing what is smart for both its workers and its taxpayers. Other states already differentiate in their health-care coverage based on smoking.

SEANC may not get very far claiming that testing for tobacco use is an invasion of privacy. At many state offices, state employees are allowed smoke breaks. . . .

Programs exist to help employees with both smoking and obesity.

In the future, if individual state employees choose not to take care of themselves, that is their own business only to an extent. While the program may seem harsh to some, state employees are using a plan that costs taxpayers billions of dollars a year, and those taxpayers have a right to expect that employees will help keep costs down. They can do so either by living healthfully or by paying a little extra.

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THOMAS: Does no smoking mean less students?  

From the time I went on my first campus tour, I've been hearing about the proposed smoking ban. In my acceptance package I was advised to think carefully about how important smoking was to me and to make my decision accordingly. . . .

I don't know what kind of reaction the bans were met with in those cities and on those campuses, but I do know the bans proposed at Guilford will be met with great resistance. I can't imagine Guilford without smoking because it is like any other assemblage of people when it comes to smoking-it's a prevalent social activity. People gather in places to smoke and talk. They share cigarettes and lighters and sometimes just drags. . . .

Whatever Guilford's reasons may be for considering implementing a smoking ban, I don't think they're good enough. Banning smoking means changing the image of Guilford, even if some members of the community are unwilling to admit that it is part of the image at all. By singling out a demographic for special treatment it would also be going against Guilford's commitment to equality, which is something no one at Guilford wants to compromise.

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North Carolina state health plan to penalize smokers, obese 

The state health plan in North Carolina, home of cigarette makers Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc., will shift more expenses to smokers and those who are overweight to try to curb medical costs.

Those who use tobacco or have a body mass index above a specified level and don't quit or lose weight will be placed in an insurance plan that pays 70 percent of claims, the health system said on its Web site. Members who can prove through tests that they don't smoke and that they meet the body-mass threshold can choose an option paying 80 percent, officials said.

"We think we'll have $13 million of cost savings in the next fiscal year," Lacey Barnes, deputy executive administrator of the plan, said in an interview today from Raleigh, the state capital. "As smokers quit, there will likely be savings in medical costs."

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Obese state workers in North Carolina to pay more for health insurance  

North Carolina is set to become the second state in the country to raise insurance costs for obese state employees; and smokers in both Carolinas will pay higher costs in the coming years.

Smoker Freddy Hall lives in Morganton, North Carolina, and he believes he should pay for it. "In all eventuality, a man who does things to harm himself is going to be discriminated against eventually when it comes to health care," but he hates to see state workers be penalized, saying they have already been hit hard by budget cuts. Smokers will pay more starting in July 2010. The extremely obese will pay more in July 2011. . . .

The State Employees Association of North Carolina taking a stand against it. SEANC Communications Specialist Mary Adelaide Bell told News Channel 7, via phone, "We feel like the plans are discriminatory. They are invasive. They are unnecessary."

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State Workers Who Smoke Or Are Obese To Pay More For Heath Insurance 

The state is notifying its employees this month that if they are obese or smoke they will pay more for health insurance.

The state hopes employees will change their lifestyles. And that it will lead to savings in the state health plan.

The state spends $2.4 billion a year on medical care for about 650,000 employees. That increases by 8 to 10 percent a year, according to Lacey Barnes, Deputy Executive Administrator for the North Carolina State Health Plan.

About a third of state workers are overweight. About 14 percent smoke, according to Barnes.

"Research indicates that smoking, the use of tobacco products, and obesity are two conditions that do result in higher health care costs," she said.

So the state is trying something new.

It will force employees who smoke to pay about ten percent more for health insurance than other workers, unless they enroll in a program to quit smoking.

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