Jump to full article: The Washington Post, 2004-11-12
Author: Stephen Barr; Page B02
Intro: The Health and Human Services Department will ban the use of tobacco on its campuses starting in January as part of Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's initiative to get Americans to quit smoking, officials said.
HHS will provide employees who use tobacco with free counseling and products for coping with withdrawal, such as gum and patches, if such assistance is not covered by their health insurance. The "tobacco cessation program" will be operated by Federal Occupational Health, a branch of the Public Health Service, the officials said.
The department does not have an estimate of how many smokers work at its facilities, HHS spokesman Bill Pierce said. The department has about 66,000 employees. . . .
Areas previously designated for outdoor smoking will be eliminated.
A presidential order and the Public Health Service Act permit HHS to prohibit the use of tobacco products on its property as a means of discouraging unhealthy behaviors, officials said.
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