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Facebook and YouTube are popular websites among teens. But now, schools are logging onto their very own space on the internet to stop smoking on school premises.
"I'm glad I'm a smoker," a student said on camera.
Smokers across the street from Findlay High School were captured on camera speaking candidly by Carrie Lambers, a communications student on a mission to cleanup the corner.
"It was an eyesore to the high school," Lambers said. "So my goal was to show students to do it as a public service announcement, to show that there are teenagers smoking, and I believe that it needs to stop."
The students tackle tough subjects often avoided by schools.
But their advisor, Jim McGonnell, says the kids have full support from the school district to speak freely.
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A student-led initiative wants to make the University of Toledo a smoke-free campus.
A vote of students and faculty and staff on the main campus starts today to see if there is support for such a change.
"We want people to have a voice," said Krystal Weaver, president of the Undergraduate Student Government. "There are those who say they have a right to smoke and those who say, 'It's my right not to smoke and to not be around it.'"
Here's an onion to the Warren VFW Post 1090 members who think they are above the law.
An organization such as this one should be setting an example of obeying state laws such as the no-smoking ban. To rack up $1,600 in fines has to amount to a lot of violations.
And to seek exemption from the fine by using the excuse that it will hurt their charitable efforts is appalling. If you can't pay the fine, don't do the crime. They should obey the law.
Ohio's smoking ban is under fire from groups that contend the petition effort that put it on the 2006 ballot was done improperly.
Opponents of Ohio Bans said numerous irregularities, including the collection of signatures by 46 convicted felons, spoiled the petition. The Ohio News Network reports members of Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate. The group contends the petitions should not have been certified.
Voters approved the ban on smoking in most public places including bars and restaurants with a nearly 59 percent majority.
Bill Beechum, owner of Wild Bill's, 148 S. Main St., supports an investigation.
Randy Myers can offer a testimonial to the smoking cessation program at Bucyrus Community Hospital.
So, he agrees with The Joint Commission, which chose the program as one of the 10 best in the nation.
"I smoked for 40 years and was able to quit two years ago because of the help I received from this program," Myers said. "The team came to General Mills, where I worked, and offered the classes and aides.
"I used the nicotine patches and lozenges that were given to me through the program, but the support I received from them was amazing and very helpful."
The program spurred the facility to become the first tobacco-free hospital campus in Ohio on June 17, 2004.
Groups opposing the state smoking ban have taken the fight up a notch, citing evidence of ballot fraud -- more than three years after voters approved the ban.
Opponents of Ohio Bans said the petition that placed the smoking ban on the 2006 statewide ballot was tainted by numerous irregularities, such as 46 convicted felons gathering signatures. The group claims the petitions never should have been certified.
Nearly 59 percent of voters approved the ban in 2006. The ban prohibits smoking in most public places in Ohio, including bars and restaurants.
According to an Ohio News Network report, members of Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the fraud claims. They want family-owned businesses and private clubs exempted from the ban.
Opponents of Ohio Bans said the petition that placed the smoking ban on the 2006 statewide ballot was tainted by numerous irregularities, such as 46 convicted felons gathering signatures. The group claims the petitions should have never been certified.
Under ban rules, "private residences; family-owned businesses without non-family employees; certain areas of nursing homes; outdoor patios; and some retail tobacco stores are exempt."
Association officials also are threatening a class action lawsuit for the hundreds of bars they claim went out of business because of the ban.
The neighbors were able to convince the little girl to jump into their yard to safety as the house was destroyed by flames. Kennetha Gay, and two other children, 3-month-old Kenron Treadwell and 4-year-old Mirrisa Gay perished in the blaze. A 6-year-old boy walked out the back door unharmed.
Tina Tackett, another neighbor, said the deaths have rocked the normally quiet residential street in the city's east side. "They were some of the nicest, kindest people you'll ever meet in your life," Tackett said. "It's a total shock." . . .
Firefighters suspect Kennetha may have fallen asleep on a downstairs couch while smoking, sparking the blaze. She got out of the home only to run back inside to try to save her children. She couldn't escape the fire a second time.
Tacket and the Allens said the smoking scenario is uncharacteristic of Kennetha, who was a doting mother. "I don't believe it," said Janis Allen. "She was an excellent mother."
Selby General Hospital is partnering with Wendy's restaurants during the Great American Smokeout on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009. The Belpre Wendy's and the Marietta Pike Street Wendy's are conducting a pack exchange from 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Anyone turning in their pack of cigarettes or smokeless tobacco (snuff, spit or dip) will receive a coupon for a FREE combo meal and those exchanging a carton of tobacco will receive three FREE combo meals.
All this is part of the Great American Smokeout, the American Cancer Society's program to generate awareness about the importance of being tobacco free. About 44 percent of the 45.3 million Americans who smoke have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year, and the Great American Smokeout remains a great opportunity to encourage people to commit to making a long-term plan to quit for good.
Opponents of Ohio's indoor-smoking ban said yesterday that they have uncovered evidence of "massive" voter fraud on the part of ban proponents, more than three years after voters approved the curbs on smoking.
The group, Opponents of Ohio Bans, said the petition that placed the smoking ban on the 2006 statewide ballot was tainted by numerous irregularities, such as 47 felons gathering signatures and signature-gatherers in 77 counties wrongly listing the American Cancer Society as their employer.
The new allegations mirror claims raised during the 2006 campaign. However, opponents of the ban say there's now even stronger evidence of wrongdoing.
"What we found is astonishing," said Pam Parker, co-owner of Parker's Tavern in Grove City and co-chairwoman of Opponents of Ohio Bans. "There are petitions that never should have been validated."
Parker spoke yesterday at a news conference with Pat Carroll, president of the Buckeye State Liquor Permit Holders Association.
Even if the bar owners persuade authorities to investigate their allegations, and even if the authorities find merit in their claims, there's no clear path to overturn the smoking ban.
Nearly 59 percent of voters approved the ban in 2006. Officials in Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner's office said there's no precedent to invalidate a law passed by voters on the basis of problems in the petition process. In fact, Ohio law makes that impossible.
A group of bar owners is fired up over Ohio's 3-year-old smoking ban.
Bar owners and employees met in Grove City on Friday claiming there weren't enough signatures for the ban to appear on the ballot in 2006.
They also say 46 convicted felons were allowed to collect signatures for the petitions -- something not allowed under state law.
The ban prohibits smoking in most public places in Ohio, including bars and restaurants.
Members of the Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association want the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the claims. They want family-owned businesses and private clubs to be exempt from the ban.
The group also is threatening a class action lawsuit for the hundreds of bars they claim went out of business because of the ban.
"We're losing money in our businesses because this never should have gone to a vote and it went to a vote anyway," said Pam Parker of Parker's Tavern in Grove City.
The adult smoking rate has been dropping, in starts and stops, since the mid-1960s, when roughly two out of five U.S. adults smoked. Today, nearly 21 percent of Americans (about 1 in 5) smoke; but local rates are much higher.
"About 29 percent of local residents use tobacco, compared with 23 percent for the state," said Stephanie Davis, director of Washington County Tobacco Prevention Program at Selby General Hospital. "I think we actually saw a dip right after the new taxes (on tobacco) went into effect earlier this year, but they're on the way back up." . . .
Davis cited a local study that links the risks for tobacco use to money and education. She said southeast Ohio residents earning less than $15,000 a year have a smoking rate of 44 percent and those with less than a high school education have a staggering rate of 53 percent.
{¶1} Defendant-appellant, Racheal Anderson nka Hill, appeals a decision of the Warren County Common Pleas Court, Domestic Relations Division, regarding custody and parenting time matters involving her daughter. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the decision of the trial court. . . .
On April 3, 2008, Marilyn moved the court to modify Racheal's parenting time with Victoria, and further moved the court for an order prohibiting all parties from smoking cigarettes in Victoria's presence. Marilyn argued that Victoria had expressed concerns, fears and reluctance over spending time with her mother, and had returned home from parenting time smelling of cigarette smoke as a result of Racheal smoking in her home and car. Marilyn also requested that a guardian ad litem be appointed for Victoria. . . .
In her third assignment of error, Racheal challenges the trial court's imposition of a no-smoking ban upon the parties. Specifically, she argues that there was no evidence before the court that Victoria suffered from any health problems or had an increased sensitivity to smoke, and she contends that there must be some evidence that a child suffers physical harm before the court can restrict a parent from engaging in a lawful activity. Racheal also points to the fact that the smoking ban is not limited to the parties' homes or to the parties themselves, and argues that the ban has effectively restricted the places where she can take Victoria.
{¶31} The trial court adopted the magistrate's finding that although there was no evidence presented to indicate that Victoria has any health problems or an increased sensitivity to cigarette smoke, it was not in Victoria's best interest to be exposed to such an activity. Indeed, other Ohio courts have made reference to the "avalanche of authoritative scientific studies" which indicate that "secondhand smoke constitutes a real and substantial danger to children because it causes and aggravates serious diseases in children, which danger is both a 'relevant factor' and a 'physical health factor'" that a trial court is required to consider in making a best interest determination under R.C. 3109.04(F). In Day, the Fifth District Court of Appeals found no abuse of discretion in the trial court's imposition of a no-smoking ban, noting that the Ohio Supreme Court has recognized conclusions made by the United States Surgeon General, as well as other health agencies, that "secondhand smoke impairs the respiratory health of thousands of young children." Id., quoting D.A.B.E., Inc. v. Toledo-Lucas Cty. Bd. of Health . . . . Regardless of the condition of their health, secondhand smoke is considered a danger to all children.
{¶32} Based on the foregoing, Racheal has not shown that the trial court's decision to restrict Victoria's exposure to cigarette smoke was arbitrary, unconscionable, or unreasonable so as to constitute an abuse of its discretion.
In the three years Ohio has been smoke-free, not a single building has qualified for the ''private club'' exemption, according to state officials, leaving some clubs like the VFW Post 1090 in Warren expressing outrage and frustration.
That club on High Street has racked up four smoking violations totaling $1,600 since enforcement began.
Despite a pitch during the 2006 election campaign to make the state smoke-free that smoking would remain permissible at private clubs, Ohio Department of Health spokesman Kristopher Weiss said this week that none of the 280,000 public places covered by Ohio's ban has been able to meet the stringent rules outlining a private club exemption.
''They just want to be left alone,'' said U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Post 1090 member Richard Harvey.
According to Harvey, the post just recently and grudgingly began directing its members to obey the law and smoke outside, but they're filing a brief with the city board of health arguing that they should be exempted as a private club as promised during the election.
From the greatest generation to our current conflicts, the men and women who've served our country gather in private at our local VFW where those who gave continue giving. Last year alone, we donated more than $40,000 of our own money back into the charities of Warren.
Though our doors are closed to the privacy of war veterans and supporters, we have been singled out and adjudicated by the city as a public entity under the state smoking ban. Mayor O'Brien and the Warren Health Department have fined us anonymously and spuriously in the thousands of dollars.
These same monies, which I used to give to local charities such as the Salvation Army, Warren Family Mission, Hospice, Meals on Wheels and many others, now goes as fines through the health department.
As Veterans Day approaches, on behalf of the men and women of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1090 of Warren, I feel personally obligated as charities chairman to apologize to my fellow citizens. Our loss of revenue has caused me to protect our own interests, redirecting an open policy of charity to lesser amounts in a time when the funds are needed most.