Tobacco.org

Approaching smoke-free 

Efforts to ban indoor, public smoking exist in all the states bordering West Virginia, but the approaches differ depending on rulings by the individual high courts as to what can be done to limit smokers from lighting up.

And activists in Kentucky, with the highest smoking rate in the nation at 28.6 percent, look to West Virginia, with the second-highest rate of 25.7 percent, for ideas.

"We're really having success at the local level, really great," said Amy Barkley, based in Louisville, Ky., and director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in the tobacco states and the mid-Atlantic. "West Virginia is kind of a pioneer in the region for local, smoke-free ordinances. That's the model."

Last week, Marion County became the 18th of West Virginia's 55 counties to impose a complete ban on indoor, public smoking

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