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W.Va. has one of nation's highest smoking rates 

West Virginia is again among the states with the highest smoking rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC released a study and a telephone survey Thursday indicating the state's high rate. West Virginia and Indiana had the highest rates, at about 26 percent, and Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee had rates about as high.

West Virginia has had a high smoking rate for years, according to Bruce W. Adkins, director of the West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention.

"We've got really hardcore smokers in the state. Some of them really don't want to quit," Adkins said. "It's a cultural thing and a social thing."

But, Adkins said more people have called the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline in the last year.

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• HLS HSC halts ban on smoking: Other area hospitals ready for Nov. 19 

A smoking ban slated to take effect next week at WVU's Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center (HSC) has been postponed indefinitely.

The HSC, Monongalia Health System, HealthSouth Mountain-View Regional Rehabilitation Hospital and WVU Healthcare -- which includes WVU Hospitals and University Health Associates (UHA) -- announced plans earlier this year to eliminate on-site smoking by the date of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, Nov. 19.

However, the HSC can't implement a smoking ban without approval from the WVU Board of Governors (BOG). The board met Friday, but the smoking policy was not on the agenda.

Dr. Fred Butcher, vice president for planning and operations, said the HSC will wait to see what happens with a campuswide smoking policy review initiated by WVU President James Clements.

"I'm absolutely confident we'll get there," Butcher said. "We just need to go through the appropriate process." . . .

At Friday's BOG meeting, Clements said a task force is being formed to review the smoking policy. Faculty, students and staff will be included, but Clements said it will likely take time to address the issue.

It can take a year or more to address a campus smoking policy, he said.

"The discussion about that is fairly complex," Clements said. "When are you on campus, when are you off campus. ... It's a complicated issue. I just want to allow people to have input."

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Prestonsburg Smoking Ban Takes Effect  

If you want to smoke in Prestonsburg, you'll have to do it outside or at home.

Monday was the first business day since the smoking ban started.

Most supporters say it is a health issue, but others say their rights are being violated.

Harold Burchell smoked for 18 years. He gave up the habit, and is glad Prestonsburg restaurants are now smoke-free.

"I do believe people have a right to smoke, that would be their choice. However, I also understand the medical problems caused by smoking," Burchell said.

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Task force to examine smoking ban 

A smoking ban resolution passed by West Virginia University's Student Government Association will move to a task force designed to discuss all aspects of a smoking policy at WVU.

Originally, SGA thought the resolution would move on to the WVU Board of Governors, but BOG Chair Carolyn Long said it would be "inappropriate" for the BOG to discuss the resolution before it goes through the task force.

University President James P. Clements said he's listened to the opinion of many students on the smoking ban. Now it's time to move forward, he said.

"We just need to bring the people together at the table and start talking about it," Clements said.

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Ex-tobacco insider says companies target blacks 

A former tobacco industry executive said Friday in Charleston that cigarette companies have targeted black people in America.

LaTanisha Wright began working for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., based in Louisville, Ky., in 2001. She resigned after the company merged with R.J. Reynolds Tobacco in July 2004 to form Reynolds American.

"My goal is to educate people in churches, schools and community centers, as well as public health officials," Wright said. She said her experience in the tobacco industry makes her better able to help people now.

"Our training stresses how Big Tobacco targets black communities. A lot of people living in black communities don't recognize that," Wright said. "They targeted black communities and youth. They post many more billboards and signs in black communities than in white communities."

About 40 people attended Wright's five-hour training session on Friday at the Blessed John XXIII Pastoral Center.

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Former Tobacco Industry Executive Shares Inside Secrets  

A national organization is bringing to the spotlight the connection between smoking and the African-American community. A five hour seminar was underway Friday afternoon in Charleston called "Follow the Signs." A former tobacco industry manager and current National African-American Tobacco Prevention Network Director is traveling the country - alerting African-Americans on how big tobacco companies are specifically targeting them.

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Former Tobacco Industry Executive Discusses Negative Impact of Tobacco  

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A former tobacco industry executive is in Charleston to discuss how she feels tobacco companies negatively target African Americans.

Friday's event was at the Blessed John XXIII Pastoral Center in Charleston.

La Tanisha Wright is the director of the National African-American Tobacco Prevention Network. She also developed a program called "Follow the Signs."

The program addresses the impact of Big Tobacco contracts on the placement, presence, price and promotion of tobacco to African Americans, according to the news release. The goal of the seminar is to showcase what can be done to reduce and prevent tobacco related disease and death.

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Nitro Leaders Look to Sidestep Kanawha Smoking Ban  

If you don't like the rules in one county, just move to the county next door.

Leaders in Nitro are hoping to move out from under the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and merge with the Putnam County Health Department. This move is due to the Kanawha County smoking ban and Tri-State Racetrack and Casino's claim that it's costing them millions.

Nitro passed an ordinance a couple of months ago allowing smoking at the racetrack. But rather than face a costly legal fight, Nitro City Councilman Craig Matthews says the better route is to merge with the Putnam County Health Department. Part of Nitro is in Putnam County.

At a health board meeting Tuesday night, Councilman Matthews laid out a plan for the merger. He says West Virginia law allows a municipality to create its own health department or merge with nearby county. He says it would be too expensive for the city of Nitro to form its own health department, but a merger would be viable.

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VIDEO: The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department was honored Friday for its Clean Indoor Air Act. 

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department was honored Friday for its Clean Indoor Air Act.

The West Virginia Wellness Council presented the award to Dr. Rahul Gupta and other health officials during a ceremony at the Charleston Marriott.

The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department was named "Tobacco Champions" for going above and beyond in their efforts to help loosen the grip of tobacco on the Appalachian people.

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Marion County commissioner drops smoking ban lawsuit 

FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- A Marion County commissioner has withdrawn a lawsuit he filed against his two colleagues over the handling of the county's smoking ban.

Commissioner Wayne Stutler says he dropped the lawsuit because he doesn't have the money to pursue it himself, and didn't want tax dollars to be spent over the litigation.

Stutler, a Republican, had claimed the commission acted outside its authority in removing a Republican from the county health board and by postponing a smoking ban.

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SGA seeks student input, opinions on smoking ban 

Student input is needed before West Virginia University's Board of Governors can pass a campus-wide smoking ban, said Jon Bond, Student Government Association's executive chair for student health.

Students can voice opinions on a campus-wide ban on SGA's blog, giving University President James P. Clements insight into what the students want, Bond said.

Last year, the former SGA BOG passed a resolution to ban smoking on the entire campus. SGA's current BOG will not revisit the idea, Bond said.

"We won't be reinventing the wheel," he said. "A campus ban would be up to the administration."

It would be easier for WVU to pass a smoking ban if West Virginia's legislators passed an Indoor Clean Air Act, said Gov. Abby Sobonya, because WVU is owned by the state.

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• Smoking bans slow to filter in for some areas 

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- From West Virginia to the West Coast, smokers are trying to fend off further restrictions on their habit, and local officials are starting to listen.

In some cases, smoking bans have even been rescinded or postponed, a much less common occurrence than officials declining to impose restrictions.

Opponents of smoking restrictions say these rollbacks are largely driven by economic woe, with local governments wary of imposing new costs or business burdens on restaurants and bars that may already be struggling.

"The economy is in a slump, and these bans almost always hurt the shot-and-beer-type bars and some restaurants," said Gary Nolan, U.S. regional director of the Citizens Freedom Alliance, which opposes laws that restrict smoking.

"If times are trying now in the hospitality industry, you're compounding that by telling bar owners they can't cater to their own crowd," he said.

The concerns of bars and fraternal organizations were at the forefront of a dispute over a proposal in Berkeley County to ban smoking in those establishments.

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• Smoking ban hits tax till  

The drive by West Virginia bar owners to protect their businesses from the smoking ban has taken a hit from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Winston cigarettes.

Kerry "Paco" Ellison, owner of the Blackhawk Saloon in Charleston, took the double blow after resisting the ban for more than a year and becoming prominent statewide in the movement by bar owners.

Reynolds charged Ellison with using an inflatable balloon of a pack of Winston cigarettes to the detriment of the company by promoting "unlawful smoker rights and to encourage patrons of your bar to violate the county's smoking ban."

Ellison told Gazette staff writer Eric Eyre, "It just baffles me that no matter what I do, somebody goes and gets a bigger dog. At this point the fight continues."

But since then, he has had second thoughts about continuing to defy the smoking ban by offering special nights for smoking in the bar. Yet no decision to move the giant Winston sign ballooned at the front of the place, though the lettering has been revised with duct tape.

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VIDEO: Board Members Reach Final Decision on Smoking Ban 

At a 3 to 1 vote....Board of Health members voted to keep the old version of the smoking ban, which states that all restaurants are smoke free but you can smoke in bars and private organizations.

Randy Elliott started off the issue by stating that the Clean Indoor Air Regulation Act was not on the original agenda back in March 2008.

He proposed that the current version be resent back to the orginial version.

Member John Conway voted against the proposal.

He says this has become a political issue and the originial decision of the smoking ban should stay in place.

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• Marion County Rescinds Smoking Ban  

FAIRMONT -- The Marion County Board of Health has had to deal with its share of controversy over the past few months.

The most recent troubles were over the removal of Alan Parks from the board and allegations its smoking ban vote wasn't legal, because it wasn't on the agenda.

On Friday, the board took a step to remedy the situation, when it revisited the county's Clean Indoor Air Act The smoking ban was on the agenda and officials say the vote to rescind the ban was about making the situation right.

"We voted 3 to 1 to rescind the Clean Indoor Air Act and go back to the original version," says BOH President Randy Elliott.

The vote reinstated the county's 2004 Clean Indoor Air Act, keeping smoking illegal in restaurants and public buildings, but allowing it in bars and fraternal organizations.

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