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Kanawha wants to serve as model for statewide smoking regulation 

Kanawha County health officials are setting themselves up to lead the push for statewide smoking regulations.

But they need to start small.

"It's got to be done very cautiously," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, chief health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. "You've got to have the right timing for it, and you've got to have public opinion on your side."

Last week, Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, introduced a bill banning smoking statewide. But Foster conceded the bill had little chance of passing, and was introduced mainly to spur discussion of smoking as a public health issue.

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