Jump to full article: SCNOW.com, 2009-10-21
Author: Dwight Dana * Morning News reporter
Intro: If three members of Florence City Council have their way, the smoking lamp will be extinguished in certain areas of the city.
Council members Octavia Williams-Blake and Buddy Brand are sponsoring a bill to regulate smoking. A co-sponsor is Mayor Stephen J. Wukela.
The bill is scheduled to be introduced at the regular Nov. 9 Florence City Council meeting. First reading would be proposed at that time.
"I want the public to know the smoking ordinance is not about people's right to smoke," Williams-Blake said, "it's about protecting employees and the public from the (proven) harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
"I think the public is ready for a smoke-free city. . . .
Williams-Blake said of the 100 or so people she has spoken with about the ordinance, only one person was against it.
Williams-Blake said the S.C.Supreme Court has upheld all challenges to city smoke-free ordinances, thus validating that it is within Florence City Council's authority to pass smoke-free ordinances.
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