http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/category/smoking_bans.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.thedickinsonpress.com/event/article/id/24929/ http://tobacco.org/news/286737.html Hettinger is considering an ordinance that would not allow smoking in public places.????Since last year, City Council members have discussed snuffing out smoking in bars, truck stops and motels.????Mayor Gary Friez said residents called concerning smoking in such places, prompting the council to look into the idea.????“There was a state deal that was going to be in effect that would say you could not smoke in bars,” Friez said. “That didn’t pass so now we’re looking into doing it ourselves.”????The state bill would ban smoking in public places statewide but was killed in late February. Dickinson Press Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.auburnpub.com/articles/2009/07/03/latest_news/latestnews03.txt http://tobacco.org/news/286732.html The Niles Town Board has nixed a proposed law prohibiting the use of smokeless tobacco products in town buildings and town vehicles.????While state law regulates smoking in public places, it does not address the issue of other forms of tobacco use.????The ordinance would have imposed a maximum fine of $250 and 15 days in Cayuga County Jail for using smokeless tobacco products in town buildings, on municipal grounds or in town vehicles.????The board voted 3-2 against the proposal at its meeting Thursday night, mainly because of enforcement issues and possible infringement on individual rights. Bernard Juli and Alberta Winters voted for the law, while town Supervisor Rick Slagle, Glenn Porter and Clarence Edmonds voted against it.????Board members decided to hold a work session before the next regular town board meeting to discuss options other than creating an ordinance prohibiting such use. Auburn Citizen kathleen.barran@lee.net (Kathleen Barran / The Citizen) Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.aberdeennews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090703/NEWS10/907039989 http://tobacco.org/news/286730.html ??But Jennifer Stalley of the American Cancer Society said she spent the past week checking petition signatures and claims nearly 39 percent are invalid because they do not come from registered voters or contain other flaws.????State election supervisor Kea Warne said the secretary of state's office will consider Stalley's challenge. No one has previously used the state law that allows such a challenge to be filed with the secretary of state because prior challenges of petition signatures for ballot measures have been handled in court, Warne said.????Larry Mann, a lobbyist for video lottery businesses who also heads the coalition that gathered the signatures, said laws dealing with certifying signatures and challenging them seem to conflict. Mann said he would not be surprised if the issue winds up in court. AP Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/jul/01/smoking-ban-psychiatric-units http://tobacco.org/news/286727.html ??Psychiatric units in England are experiencing considerable difficulties implementing the smoking ban that came into force last July. A report published last month by the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) says 85% of respondents to a survey it conducted said the ban had not been implemented "wholly effectively". Widespread practical problems reported included a rise in "secret smoking" - with associated safety concerns - and occasions where staff feel obliged to "turn a blind eye", especially when a patient is very unwell, thus placing them both in a position of breaking the law.????Two years ago, I wrote a piece expressing my concerns about the forthcoming ban. It seemed to me that the issue was a great deal more complex, both practically and morally, than a simple equation of "smoking is bad, therefore we must ban smoking". . . .??????Policy-makers responded with a mixture of "guidance" and bullheadedness. "The 'smoking den' culture that has afflicted mental health wards for decades is over," said national director for mental health Louis Appleby, in a letter to this paper more than a year before the ban was even due to be brought in.????Some trusts have introduced the ban effectively, and their experience is informative. One trust quoted in the MHF report had introduced the ban in conjunction with "healthy lifestyle initiatives". It said that "every ward has stretch and movement to start the day, a gym, and staff trained to diploma level in physical healthcare".????If stopping smoking is to be seen as a positive choice, rather than the loss of yet another freedom, such initiatives would seem to be crucial, as would a healthy, nutrition-rich diet. I have never been on a ward that offered either.????My local mental health unit, which was purpose-built only a few years ago, does not have a gym at all. Nor, crucially, do wards have direct access to a safe outside space. . . .??????If every ward could be provided with such facilities, most people would embrace the ban as a huge step forward. But that is not the reality most staff and patients face. . . .????The fact is that psychiatric wards contain people who are ill - some too ill to leave the ward and certainly too ill to appreciate the benefits of not smoking. In the interests of common humanity, staff are turning a blind eye and breaking the law. They shouldn't have to.???? The Guardian editor@societyguardian.co.uk (Clare Allan ) UK Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/Non-compliance-with-smoking-ban-implies-fines,0161f815-baf0-4250-bc3d-a0e456e21f57.html http://tobacco.org/news/286719.html Luanda - The non compliance with the smoking prohibition in public places, which was approved last Wednesday by the Angolan government, will imply fines that vary from 5 to 10 minimum salaries.????This measure covers institutions of central and local administration, hotels, restaurants, airports, night clubs, telephone booths, train stations and public toilets, said to the press the director of the legal department of the Ministry of Public Administration, Employment and Social Security (MAPESS), Jesus Maiato, on the fringes of the meeting of the Cabinet Council.????According to the decree of the government, it will only be allowed to smoke in places where the smoker is alone and therefore he/she will not harm the health of other people. Angola Press Angola Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/politica/Government-sets-prohibition-smoking-public-places,7823f644-85ad-48f0-bde4-c033a363d4ee.html http://tobacco.org/news/286717.html The Cabinet Council approved Wednesday the decree establishing a ban on smoking in public places, as well as the creation of the Medical Emergency Institute of Angola.?? Angola Press Angola Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=46536&cat_id=1 http://tobacco.org/news/286716.html ??MEMBERS of the House Health Committee yesterday voiced concerns that today's scheduled meeting to discuss the smoking ban proposal may not take place due to absenteeism, reiterating the need to discuss the bill before parliament closes for the summer.????To pre-empt the absences, the committee is set to meet three hours later today. Reports last night said President Christofias would be meeting party leaders today, to hear arguments in favour of postponing the parliamentary vote until October.????Meanwhile, the Non-Smokers League of the Cyprus Anti-Cancer Society is set to hold a demonstration outside parliament today, calling for a smoking ban in entertainment venues. Cyprus Mail Cyprus Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.mitchellrepublic.com/event/article/id/34671/ http://tobacco.org/news/286712.html Opponents of South Dakota’s new state law banning smoking in bars, casinos and restaurants that serve alcohol might not get the chance to put the issue to a statewide vote after all.????That’s because the leader of South Dakota’s anti-tobacco movement filed a lasthour challenge to their referendum petitions Thursday.????The referendum petitions had prevented the ban from taking effect July 1 at the same time as most other new South Dakota laws passed by the Legislature last session.????If the petitions survive the challenge, a statewide vote would be held as part of the November 2010 general election.????But if Jennifer Stalley of the American Cancer Society is right, there won’t be a vote at all and the ban would kick in when the legal dust settles.????Stalley delivered a thick binder to the office of Secretary of State Chris Nelson, whose staff oversees election compliance, challenging the petitions at about 4 p.m. Thursday. . . .????Stalley is challenging the signatures rather than the sampling method. Nelson wasn’t at the office when Stalley’s challenge documents arrived with just an hour to spare. Bray said the next step is to begin looking at each one of the 9,891 challenges. That work will begin Monday. “We will have to go line by line,” Bray said. If enough of the challenged signatures are found to be invalid, Bray said Nelson then would consult with state Attorney General Larry Long regarding how to proceed.?? Mitchell Daily Republic Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/the_rights_and_the_wrongs_of_smoking_in_public/7057/ http://tobacco.org/news/286710.html ??While living in the San Fernando Valley in early 2006, I remember thinking how ludicrous it was that the Calabasas City Council had adopted an ordinance that basically eliminated the ability for anyone to smoke in public. The secondhand smoke control ordinance specified that smoking was prohibited in all public places where other persons could be exposed to secondhand smoke, including indoor and outdoor businesses, hotels, parks, apartment common areas, restaurants and bars where people could reasonably be expected to congregate or meet.????At the time, as a half-a-pack-a-day smoker, I felt persecuted and loathed. . . .??????After I left the Valley, I moved up north and found myself in a pro-smoking environment. It was widely accepted, if not condoned, as a bridge to meeting new people. But as the butts piled up, I found the habit to be more destructive and bothersome. The initial buzz that everyone gets with the first cigarette wears off as the day progresses. Instead of relaxing and enjoying cigarettes, I was tense and frustrated because my nicotine level wasn't high enough. And as a friend pointed out, it wasn't the nicotine that was making me feel relaxed; it was taking deep breaths throughout the day to deliver more oxygen into my body -- something that was defeated as my lungs sucked up nasty carcinogens.????By December 2007, I decided I'd had enough. . . .???? although I am not in favor of the government legislating certain behaviors, the problem is that when you are a smoker, you simply aren't taking into account how you are affecting other people, be it their health, their level of comfort or their children by modeling for them that smoking should be a norm in our society.?? . . .????because fighting between the smokers and nonsmokers will never cease, cities like Thousand Oaks and Moorpark have decided to follow Calabasas' lead and make it more difficult to expose nonsmokers to the carcinogenic plumes of cigarettes through their own anti-smoking ordinances. . . .??????While not every provision of the new laws seems fair, including forbidding smoking in rental homes, it isn't about the person who is committing the act; it is about everyone else who has to be subjected to it. For this reason alone, Moorpark and Thousand Oaks are headed in the right direction toward putting an end to exposing others to a debilitating habit. Ventura County Reporter Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/03/moorpark-modifies-anti-smoking-ordinance/ http://tobacco.org/news/286709.html ??The Moorpark City Council changed its anti-smoking ordinance Wednesday night to allow businesses within the city to apply for a temporary permit to host smoking-related events.????The change will delay final adoption and approval of the city's smoking ordinance until a future council meeting.????The council unanimously voted to make the change after Moorpark Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Patrick Ellis said the original smoking ordinance would hurt restaurants and other businesses in Moorpark if passed.????The original ordinance made it illegal to smoke in public areas, including "within 20 feet of the entrance, exit, or open window of any public building."????Smoking is already prohibited indoors at restaurants, but the ordinance would have also prohibited smoking in all outdoor eating areas as well. Ventura County Star Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/06/opponents-to-smoke-ban-are-only-delaying-a-smoke-free-south-dakota/ http://tobacco.org/news/286705.html AT ISSUE: Some 25,000 people have signed petitions to bring the statewide ban on smoking in bars and restaurants to a vote of the people. One should fight to the death protecting the right of referring legislation to the public, even to oppose the smoking ban. However, opposing the ban only delays having South Dakota smoke free. Opponents to the smoking ban say the issue is a “matter of choice” issue and a freedom thing. But, in reality it is a pure and simple health issue.?? . . .??????AT THE SAME TIME, this freedom thing the group against the ban is arguing has a tender spot in a lot of people’s psyche. There’s no question about that. They are saying it should be the business person’s right to chose whether or not there should be smoking in his or her establishment.????But how does one measure that against a person’s health? According to the Watertown Tobacco Free Coalition, here are a few of the numerous health effects from just second hand smoke on children: asthma, bronchitis and pneumonia, ear infections, lower respiratory tract infections cancers and leukemia, sudden infant death syndrome and adverse impact on learning and behavioral development.????THEN, WHEN IT comes to first hand smoke (smoking a cigarette), do you realize what some of the well known ingredients of cigarette smoke include? Dakota Voice Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/49755442.html http://tobacco.org/news/286704.html ??The American Heart Association is crying foul over nearly 10,000 signatures gathered to put the issue on the ballot.????Darrin Smith with the American Heart Association said, "They do not have the minimum number of legitimate valid signatures to qualify for the ballot and that is precisely that challenge that we're using today."????But one of the people who helped get the issue to a public vote believes the signatures will stand.????Larry Mann of Video Lottery Establishments of South Dakota said, "I feel confident that the law, the statute that the secretary uses to validate those signatures was complied with."????But Darin Smith disagrees and says the discrepancies are big enough to overturn the petition right now.????"The most common reason for the nearly 10,000 invalid signatures were very simply, several thousand people who signed the petition sheets were not registered voters," he said.????Larry Mann counters, "Politics is a strange thing and I can't imagine this would be overturned, but if it is, we'll have to discuss it at that time." KSFY Television ABC Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=86791 http://tobacco.org/news/286703.html ??Thursday was a historic day in South Dakota. For the first time a group is challenging a petition to put an issue on a statewide ballot. Supporters of a statewide smoke free law filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's office claiming opponents did not collect enough signatures to put a smoking ban on the 2010 ballot.????The South Dakota Secretary of State's office says checking the signatures smoke free supporters are challenging will be a top priority for them.????The Secretary of State's office will start reviewing the nearly 10-thousand challenged signatures Monday to determine whether they are, in fact, invalid. It previously took three people, three days to go through 13-hundred signatures. At that rate, it would take the staff working on the challenge until the middle of August to finish the review. But no matter how long it takes a challenge of a petition this size, on a statewide level, is history in the making.????"This is as Chris called it, 'uncharted territory,' because this has never happened before," Deputy Secretary of State Teresa Bray said.?? KELOLAND TV bdunsmoor@keloland.com Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.argusleader.com/article/20090703/NEWS/907030319/1001 http://tobacco.org/news/286702.html ??A coalition of health advocates on Thursday claimed that almost 10,000 signatures collected by opponents of a statewide smoking ban are invalid.????They filed a formal protest with the secretary of state's office, asking the office to invalidate 9,891 signatures.?? . . .??????The coalition of anti-smoking groups, which had five days to challenge the petition drive, claims that more than 4,000 signatures are from people not registered to vote. Another 3,800 were signed on petitions that were not properly notarized.????Other problems included duplicate signatures, incomplete information and invalid circulators, the challenge says.????"These are black and white issues not necessarily open to interpretation, so we feel very good about the prospects for our challenge," said Darrin Smith, senior director for the American Heart Association and a steering committee member for the South Dakota Tobacco Free Kids Network.?? Sioux Falls Argus-Leader jonellis@argusleader.com ( Jonathan Ellis) Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT http://www.publicnewsservice.org/index.php?/content/article/9588-1 http://tobacco.org/news/286701.html Supporters of South Dakota's new smoke-free law are challenging a petition that could force the law to go to a statewide ballot in 2010. The South Dakota Tobacco Free Kids Network has filed the challenge arguing nearly 10,000 of the 25,000 signatures turned in by a group that opposes the recently-passed smoking ban are invalid. After reviewing nearly 1,000 pages of signatures, the group says many of them do not belong to registered voters and as many as 39 percent are not valid.????Jennifer Stalley, project director for the Network, personally signed the affidavit challenging the signatures and says her group believes that 9,891 of the 25,400 signatures submitted to the secretary of state are invalid. The network believes the petition also contains problems with the way some of the signatures were gathered.????"We have respected the rights of the opponents to partake in this process, and this is the next step in that process. We think it is only fair to ask the secretary of state to review the signatures in total, given the law's impact and the immediate need to have it go into effect to preserve the health of those folks who are working in an environment where smoking is currently allowed."?? Public News Service info@publicnewsservice.org Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT