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This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Wednesday, September 23, 2009. Used by permission.
FDA Ban on Flavored Cigarettes Takes Effect
by the Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — The new federal ban on flavored cigarettes took effect
on Tuesday, marking one of the first visible signs of the Food and Drug
Administration’s new authority to regulate tobacco.
The ban on manufacturing, importing, marketing and distribution
includes candy-, fruit- and cloveflavored cigarettes, which health and
federal authorities said are more appealing to youth. It does not
include a ban on menthol or other flavored tobacco products like cigars
— issues that the FDA is studying.
‘‘Candy- and fruit-flavored cigarettes are a gateway for many children
and young adults to become regular tobacco users,’’ said Dr. Lawrence
R. Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
Citing research studies, Deyton said that 17-year-old smokers are three
times as likely to use flavored cigarettes as smokers over the age of
25. FDA officials also said that almost 90 percent of adult smokers
start smoking as teenagers and the ban will help stop more than 3,600
young people who start smoking daily.
The FDA sent a letter to the industry last week discussing the ban, its
plans for enforcement, including the definition of a cigarette under
the ban. Officials are encouraging consumers to notify authorities of
any potential violations of the ban.
Executives from leading health groups urged the FDA last month to take
a closer look at attempts to sidestep the ban by making superficial
changes that turn a cigarette into a small cigar in order to keep
selling flavored products.
The move came after word that the nation’s top distributor of clove
cigarettes — California-based Kretek International Inc. — began
offering small filtered spice-flavored cigars that are close to the
size of a cigarette but are wrapped in tobacco rather than paper.
Posted September 27, 2009 |
This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, September 20, 2009. Used by permission.
Report: Even Small Amounts of Smoke Raise Risk of Death
DALLAS — Even small amounts of smoke — such as from smoking a few cigarettes a day,
inhaling someone else’s tobacco smoke or breathing polluted air - increase the
risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD), researchers report in
Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
In an
analysis of prospective data on more than 1 million adults, researchers found
that the exposure-response relationship was steepest at relatively low levels of
exposure. The risk continued to increase, but leveled off with increasing levels
of smoking.
The major
findings were:
The
largest incremental boost in risk of CVD death came with smoking three or less
cigarettes a day, which increased the risk by about 64 percent.
Those
smoking 8-12 cigarettes per day (about a half pack) had a 79 percent increased
risk of CVD death.
Those
smoking 18-22 cigarettes per day (about a full pack) had about a 100 percent
increased risk of CVD death.
Breathing
moderate to high levels of ambient air pollution and secondhand smoke, with
estimated exposures at far less than smoking one cigarette a day, still
increased risk of CVD death by about 20 percent to 30 percent compared to those
without exposure.
“The
evidence in this integrated analysis suggests that there are no apparent safe
levels of exposure to cigarette smoke or ambient air pollution,” said C.
Arden Pope III, Ph.D., Mary Lou Fulton Professor at Brigham Young
University in Provo, Utah. “This may be due to the fact that even with
relatively low levels of smoke there are adverse biologic responses such as
inflammation, increased platelet activation and altered cardiac function.”
Researchers
collected data from the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II (ACS
CPS-II) and integrated it with studies of secondhand smoke and air pollution.
The large ACS CPS-II data set allowed researchers to pinpoint excess
risk of cardiovascular death associated with relatively small
increments of cigarette smoking while controlling for other risk factors such as
education, marital status, body mass, alcohol consumption, occupational
exposures and diet.
Researchers
plotted relative risks of cardiovascular death from increments of cigarette
smoking along with comparison estimates for secondhand smoke and air pollution
over estimated inhaled doses of fine particulate matter.
“Past
studies have established that active
cigarette smoking exposes human lungs to extremely large amounts of fine
particulate matter and is a major independent contributor to cardiovascular
disease,” Pope said. “Our analysis illustrates that it doesn’t require extreme
exposure to have significant cardiovascular effects. Even passive exposures to
ambient air pollution and secondhand smoke contribute to significant increases
in cardiovascular mortality.” Reasonable efforts should be made to avoid
secondhand smoke, and public policy must improve air quality — both of
which will have a positive impact on public health — Pope said.
“A
critical finding of our study is that smoking is unhealthy even at small
amounts,” Pope said. “Reducing the amount one smokes does some good, but the
biggest benefits come from stopping completely.”
In an
accompanying editorial on this study and one on carbon monoxide exposure,
Annette Peters, Ph.D., from the German Research Center for Environmental Health,
Institute of Epidemiology, notes that the research “makes an important
contribution of the assessment of the role of the environment for cardiovascular
health.” Together, the studies:
highlight
the consistently emerging evidence that indoor and outdoor air quality is a
modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease
provide
consistent evidence for health effects of particulate matter
note that
the health effects of low-dose smoking, secondhand smoke and air pollution are
probably still underestimated by decision makers around the world
suggest
that air quality regulation should include regular reassessment of emerging and
existing air quality measures. Coauthors are Richard T. Burnett, Ph.D.; Daniel
Krewski, Ph.D.; Michael Jerrett, Ph.D.; Yuanli Shi, M.D.; Eugenia E. Calle,
Ph.D. and Michael J. Thun, M.D. Individual author disclosures can be found on
the manuscript.
The
California Air Resources Board partially funded the study.
Posted September 27, 2009 | This article appeared in The Daily Athenaeum on Thursday, September 3, 2009. Used by permission.
Smoke-free Campus Debate Is On At WVU
By Matt Narvin & Melanie Hoffman
The Tobacco Free Mountaineers have set its sights on a smoke-free campus by the end of the school year.
Support has been mounting for smoke-free campuses nationwide over the
past 24 months, according to Tobacco Free Mountaineers
Interim-President Chris Roberts.
"We have seen the amount of campuses that are smoke-free go from 60 to over 300 in just two years," Roberts said.
The group held its first meeting of the year Thursday afternoon.
"We are willing to work in any way possible to achieve our goal of a
smoke-free and healthy campus," said John Bond, Student Government
Association executive for Student Health.
Though the goal seems lofty, Tobacco Free Mountaineers is confident
that significant steps will be made this school year and possibly
sooner.
"I would like to see progress this semester," Bond said.
In a meeting with The Daily Athenaeum’s editorial board Wednesday, WVU
President James P. Clements said the policy took two years to develop
at Towson University.
"The reality is smoke-free means a lot of things to a lot of people,"
Clements said. "It’s not a black and white issue, there are a lot of
fuzzy areas."
Issues such as where the University’s borders end, where residences
begin and smoking in a car were discussed at Towson.
"How about if you’re in your car on the campus," he said. "It’s on-campus property, but it’s your car."
Clements said recruitment and retention could be an issue if the campus was to go smoke-free.
"They need to know they’re coming to a smoke-free campus and what
smoke-free means," he said. "There are staff members that are going to
say, ‘I like to smoke, and I smoke, and if this is going to be
smoke-free then I’m leaving.’"
The first step for TFM to reach its goal is to apply for a change in
University policy. The policy has not been changed since 1990.
Pending approval, the policy would most likely go into effect next year, according to Roberts.
Roberts is opposed to a designated smoking area for students on campus.
"It does sound like a good idea, but it’s hard to enforce, would cost
money, and our goal is a totally smoke-free campus," he said.
Clements agreed enforcement was a problem.
"What we found at my former institution is people don’t want to be the police," he said.
TFM’s other goals deal with helping smokers who want to quit.
"We want to help people, but we don’t want to leave people hanging that
want to quit," Bond said. "We would really like to increase the
availability of cessation methods on campus."
The group gained support last year after it released indoor air quality
tests performed in bars and restaurants around the area, Roberts said.
TFM has plans to launch a media campaign in the fall focusing on
raising awareness of the dangers of first and secondhand smoke as well
as the benefits of a smoke-free campus.
"Here, there is a very clear message from students and a lot of
interest in it," he said. "The campus wants to have the discussion, so
let’s have the discussion."
Posted September 27, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Thursday, August 27, 2009. Used by permission.
Marion County Smoke Ban to Remain in Place; Commissioners, though, Vote to Rescind Parks’ Appointment to BOH
by Jim Bissett
FAIRMONT — Marion County’s contentious smoking ban remained in place as
of Wednesday — despite earlier media reports that said otherwise.
Ban or no ban, Marion County commissioners found out Wednesday that
discord on both sides of the issue continues to smolder.
Commissioners, during their regular meeting, tried to clear the air on
the ban, but ended up debating themselves, instead.
The ban, which was enacted Aug. 1 by the county Board of Health,
prohibits lighting up in bars, clubs, video poker parlors or within 15
feet of a public building entrance.
Over the past two weeks, commissioners heard from representatives of
two Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and an Eagles lodge who say they
should be exempt from the ban, since they’re private clubs with
dues-paying members.
One of those VFW posts said it’s losing some $1,000 a day, since its
regulars, post-ban, are opting to keep their dollars — and their smokes
— at home.
The county commission, in effect, was in on the orchestration of the
ban since the beginning. Current commission president Randy Elliott
holds a seat on the Board of Health, and, up until Wednesday, former
commissioner Alan Parks did, too.
Parks’ wife had served on the health board as treasurer — but her
abrupt resignation in May 2008 left the board one member short. County
commissioner Wayne Stutler nominated Parks to serve in his wife’s
place.
Elliott abstained from the vote, he said then, because of his position on the health board.
Last week, local resident Gary Ford complained that the commission and
the health board may have violated the state’s open-meeting laws, since
Parks, in effect, appointed himself for a position that wasn’t on the
agenda or advertised by the state for the required 30 days.
Elliott investigated with the state Ethics Commission, and said that
Ford was correct. That’s why the Parks appointment was placed on the
agenda for Wednesday’s meeting.
“This is something we need to make right,” he said.
Both Elliott and commissioner Burley “Butch” Tennant Jr. voted Wednesday to remove Parks from the health board.
Stutler voted no, saying his fellow commissioners met Friday afternoon
in Tennant’s office in a closed-door session that included Health Board
Administrator Lloyd White, Prosecuting Attorney Pat Wilson and
Assistant Prosecutor Chuck Shields — but not him.
That’s another meeting violation, Stutler said.
“I find that very ironic,” he said.
Tennant countered by saying his office door was open and that Stutler
was away from the commission offices when people had gathered at his
desk.
“The door was open, and we were discussing the agenda,” he said.
Parks, who wasn’t at Wednesday’s meeting, said he might legally
challenge the commission’s decision to vote him off the board.
“I’m keeping all my options open,” he said. “I don’t think they [the
commission] had a legal right to do that. They’re not thinking this
thing through.”
Parks said cases similar to his have gone before judges in other
counties. Rulings, he said, are almost always in favor for appointees
like him.
At the time of his wife’s resignation, he said, the health board was in an emergency situation.
“They needed someone to sign the checks,” he said. “That’s all it was.”
The health board is expected to begin advertising for nominees soon for
that 30-day period. The new appointee must be a Republican, like Parks,
residing in the county’s Middletown District, like Parks.
Parks said he wouldn’t be surprised if his replacement is preordained.
“The next person sitting on the board has already been picked,” Parks
said. “It’ll be interesting to see when they change their party from
Democrat to Republican.”
Marion County health educator and advocate Beverly Keener told
commissioners the smoking ban should be about public policy — not
politics.
Twelve West Virginians a day die from smoking-related diseases, she
said. That comes out to 4,000 people a year, she said, to go with
medical bills that top out at $897 million a year.
“My own sister has lung cancer,” she said. “This is a human-suffering issue.”
Posted August 30, 2009
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Monday, August 24, 2009. Used by permission.
City Medical Facilities Preparing to go Smoke-free; Signs Alert Visitors to New No-smoking Policy
by Cassie Shaner
The official countdown began Friday with the posting of signs — in less
than 90 days Morgantown medical facilities go smoke-free.
Monongalia Health System, HealthSouth MountainView Regional
Rehabilitation Hospital, WVU’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
(HSC) and WVU Healthcare — which includes WVU Hospitals and University
Health Associates (UHA) — announced plans last month to eliminate
on-site smoking by Nov. 19.
Smoking is already prohibited inside each facility, but it’s permitted
in designated areas outdoors. Each facility is now in the process of
developing a new, smoke-free policy that will ban smoking on site,
including parking lots and sidewalks.
The signs were posted at entrances, internal locations and satellite
facilities, such as WVU Urgent Care and WVU Cheat Lake Physicians. The
signage features logos for each entity involved and indicate that each
facility will soon be tobacco-free “to promote good health and to
maintain a healing environment.”
WVU Healthcare is also notifying patients by letter when they schedule appointments.
“Hopefully, people are hearing that message before they get here,” said
Dave Harshbarger, wellness manager and program director of the Dr. Dean
Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease at the HSC. “If they
haven’t, we’ll politely tell them when they get here.”
Some smokers believe rights being taken
Harshbarger
said feedback on the policy change has been mostly positive so far, but
smoker Linda Moles, of Morgantown, wasn’t happy about it.
“I think if you want to smoke, you should be able to. It seems like
they’re trying to take a lot of our rights away in America ...,” Moles
said. “I just think they’re pushing the limits.”
Walter Clawges, 66, of Wadestown, said it makes sense to prohibit
smoking in front of the hospital, but he should be allowed to light up
in the parking lot.
“If I’m in my vehicle, they’re going to have their hands full,” Clawges said.
Clawges also questioned how hospital officials would keep people from
smoking in the parking lot during WVU home football games. But
Harshbarger said the parking lots are controlled by WVU’s athletic
department on game days.
“On those days, our policies are basically null and void, and it’s up
to how WVU athletics wants to manage the lots,” Harshbarger said.
Harshbarger serves on a committee of about 20 people — including
representatives for each entity involved in the smoke-free announcement
— that meets weekly to discuss policy development, communication and
cessation resources. The committee developed a policy for the HSC, UHA
and WVU Hospitals that has been handed over to management at each
entity for review.
“The decision has been made to do it, so it’s not a matter of whether
they agree or not,” Harshbarger said. “It’s a matter of just kind of
tweaking it to meet whatever codes or changes might need to be made.”
All sites will comply with similar policies
Harshbarger
said the policies for WVU Hospitals and UHA will likely be finalized
within the next month or so, but they won’t take effect until Nov. 19.
And though each entity will have its own separate policy, they’ll be
similar.
“In effect, it’ll be the same,” Harshbarger said. “Bottom line is no
tobacco use on campus, and I would envision the health sciences policy
being the same.”
The HSC policy has to be posted for public comment and approved by the
WVU Board of Governors before it takes effect.
The board has two meetings before Nov. 19. Harshbarger said officials
hope to present the policy for consideration at the board’s first
meeting this fall and put it up for a vote at the board’s next meeting
Nov. 6.
Policies for HealthSouth and Mon General are still being developed.
“It’s still in draft form,” Ginger Dearth, director of marketing operations for HealthSouth, said Friday.
Dearth said a committee is working on the policy, which would take
effect Nov. 19. It should be finalized and forwarded to management in
about a month.
Melissa Shreves, director of human resources for Mon General, said
officials have drafted a new policy that will take effect after Nov.
19.
“The policy will change to reflect that tobacco use of any kind would
be prohibited on the [Monongalia Health System] campus,” Shreves said
in a statement provided to The Dominion Post.
“This change is to reflect the commitment of the hospital to create an
environment which promotes the health and well being of the community,
employees, patients and visitors.”
Posted August 30, 2009
| This article appeared in the Charleston Gazette on Friday, August 21, 2009. Used by permission.
Casino
Study Suggests Smoking Sections Don't Work; A Study Released This Month
in the American Journal of Public Health Suggests That Separate Smoking
and Nonsmoking Sections in Casinos Don't Work, and Concludes That
Casinos Should Not Be Allowed Exemptions From Smoking Bans
By Rusty Marks
WASHINGTON -- A study released this month in the American Journal of
Public Health suggests that separate smoking and nonsmoking sections in
casinos don't work, and concludes that casinos should not be allowed
exemptions from smoking bans.
James Repace, a biophysicist who has written articles for scientific
journals and other publications, studied the effects of smoking on
customers and employees in five Pennsylvania casinos. The results were
published this month in the American Journal of Public Health, a
peer-reviewed journal based in Washington, D.C.
Pennsylvania recently relaxed its indoor-smoking exemption for casinos
to allow smoking areas to comprise as much as half the floor space in
casinos. Repace studied concentrations of smoke in the nonsmoking
sections of the casinos and tested the urine of nonsmokers who had been
in the casinos.
On Tuesday, members of Nitro City Council voted to allow Tri-State
Racetrack & Gaming Center to set up a separate smoking section in
the casino, which is inside city limits.
Tri-State owners asked for the exemption to get around Kanawha County's
clean indoor-air regulation, which bans smoking in restaurants, bars
and gambling establishments. Owners Hartman & Tyner Inc. believe
the smoking ban is responsible for $9 million of a $15 million loss at
Tri-State since the ban went into effect in July 2008.
Hartman & Tyner vice president Dan Adkins wants to allow smoking on
the first floor of Tri-State Racetrack, with the second and third
floors smoke-free.
But Repace concluded that separate smoking and non-smoking sections in
casinos don't work. In Pennsylvania, he found that concentrations of
harmful particles from cigarette smoke were between four and six times
higher than the outside air in the nonsmoking sections of the casinos,
and higher still in the smoking sections. Repace also found high
concentrations of chemicals from cigarette smoke in the urine of
nonsmokers even after short periods of time in the casinos.
Repace concluded that allowing smoking in casinos is especially hazardous to employees who work there.
In 2006, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona concluded that no
level of secondhand smoke is safe, and that even the most sophisticated
ventilation systems cannot remove the harmful chemicals from cigarette
smoke.
Twenty-seven states have laws requiring at least some of their casinos
to be 100 percent smoke-free. Fifteen of those states, including
neighboring Ohio and Maryland, require all casinos to be completely
smoke-free, according to information compiled by the American
Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.
Last year, the city council of Atlantic City, N.J., voted to make
Atlantic City's casinos smoke-free. City officials have since postponed
the total smoking ban for a year under pressure from the casino
industry.
Atlantic City currently allows smoking in up to 25 percent of a casino's floor space.
Adkins said non-smokers at Tri-State will be safe because the smoking
and nonsmoking areas will be physically separated. Although some of the
casinos Repace studied had nonsmoking areas with separate ventilation
systems, others simply had part of the floor reserved for smokers and
part for nonsmokers.
"That study would have no reflection on what we're planning at
Tri-State," Adkins said. "I am proposing to have two physically
separate facilities, one for smoking and one for nonsmoking."
Dr. Rahul Gupta, chief health officer for the Kanawha-Charleston Health
Department, said the only way to protect nonsmoking patrons from
secondhand smoke would be to have smoking in a completely separate
building. Even with designated smoking and nonsmoking floors, Gupta
said, secondhand smoke would still travel between the floors through
elevators, stairwells and doorways.
Adkins said he was willing to install monitors to make sure nonsmoking
parts of the casino were safe. He also said no one would be forced to
go into the smoking section of the racetrack, including employees.
"Any employee or patron who chooses to go into or work in the smoking
facility will be there by their own choice," Adkins said. "No one will
be forced to work there."
Reach Rusty Marks at rustyma...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1215.
Posted August 30, 2009
| This article appeared in the Charleston Gazette on Wednesday, August 12, 2009. Used by permission.
Kanawha
Legislators See Little Chance of Smoking Ban Exemption for Tri-State;
State Lawmakers from Kanawha County Say it's Unlikely the Legislature
Will Step in to Help Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center Get Out of
the County's Smoking Ban
By Alison Knezevich
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State lawmakers from Kanawha County say it's
unlikely the Legislature will step in to help Tri-State Racetrack &
Gaming Center get out of the county's smoking ban.
Last week, Kanawha County commissioners Kent Carper and Dave Hardy
called on legislators to exempt the Nitro track from the county's
clean-indoor-air act.
Track owners say the ordinance, which took effect last year, has cost
them $9 million in lost revenue. Under state law, all 55 county health
departments devise their own policies on indoor smoking -- and
Tri-State officials say other tracks are at an unfair advantage.
But several Kanawha legislators say they're uneasy with changing laws to benefit one type of business.
"The only way you can be effective as a Legislative body is to pass
laws that apply to everyone," said Sen. Erik Wells, D-Kanawha. "We
weaken the whole process and turn laws into Swiss cheese if we carve
out exemptions for special interests."
Tracks shouldn't be treated differently than other businesses like bars
and restaurants, said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha. He
added that Tri-State owners initially said they wouldn't fight the ban.
"They should stick by their word," he said.
Sen.
Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, said the Legislature should not take a step
back on a major public health policy because of one business'
short-term problems.
"I'm sympathetic to their situation, but this a huge issue from a much broader perspective," he said.
Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, said he didn't support an exemption
for tracks, but would like to see uniform smoking legislation
throughout the state. That would put all businesses on equal footing,
he said.
Some have tried that strategy before, said Delegate Bonnie Brown, D-Kanawha.
"The smokers' lobby has pushed for years for the Legislature to have
authority over smoking bans, knowing that we would never do it because
the political will is not there," she said.
Delegate Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha, isn't keen on either an exemption for
tracks or for statewide legislation, he said. Still, it bothers him
that smoking policies are decided by boards whose members are
appointed, not elected.
Last week, Kanawha County commissioners Kent Carper and Dave Hardy
called on legislators to exempt the Nitro track from the county's
clean-indoor-air act.
Track owners say the ordinance, which took effect last year, has cost
them $9 million in lost revenue. Under state law, all 55 county health
departments devise their own policies on indoor smoking -- and
Tri-State officials say other tracks are at an unfair advantage.
But several Kanawha legislators say they're uneasy with changing laws to benefit one type of business.
"The only way you can be effective as a Legislative body is to pass
laws that apply to everyone," said Sen. Erik Wells, D-Kanawha. "We
weaken the whole process and turn laws into Swiss cheese if we carve
out exemptions for special interests."
Tracks shouldn't be treated differently than other businesses like bars
and restaurants, said House Minority Leader Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha. He
added that Tri-State owners initially said they wouldn't fight the ban.
"They should stick by their word," he said.
Sen. Brooks McCabe, D-Kanawha, said the Legislature should not take a
step back on a major public health policy because of one business'
short-term problems.
"I'm sympathetic to their situation, but this a huge issue from a much broader perspective," he said.
Delegate Ron Walters, R-Kanawha, said he didn't support an exemption
for tracks, but would like to see uniform smoking legislation
throughout the state. That would put all businesses on equal footing,
he said.
Some have tried that strategy before, said Delegate Bonnie Brown, D-Kanawha.
"The smokers' lobby has pushed for years for the Legislature to have
authority over smoking bans, knowing that we would never do it because
the political will is not there," she said.
Delegate Patrick Lane, R-Kanawha, isn't keen on either an exemption for
tracks or for statewide legislation, he said. Still, it bothers him
that smoking policies are decided by boards whose members are
appointed, not elected.
"I think the issue is that the smoking laws have to be passed by
elected officials," Lane said. "Business owners and citizens who
disagree with [health boards] have no recourse. They can't vote them
out."
The Legislature went to great lengths in the past to give local health
departments autonomy, said Delegate Nancy Guthrie, D-Kanawha.
But Danny Wells, D-Kanawha, said Tri-State's economic impact is too
significant too ignore. He believes tracks should get an exemption.
"I'm totally against smoking and I support the health department,"
Wells said. "But there are too many dollars being lost."
If smoking facilities are completely separate from non-smoking sections, "I can handle that," Wells said.
"When I was down at the track before the ban, I thought the ventilation system was adequate," he said.
But Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, said he is unaware of any evidence that
bars, restaurants or other businesses nationally have sustained
long-term financial hardships because of smoking bans.
He said gaming facilities in Delaware and Florida -- including one
operated by Tri-State's parent company -- have successfully weathered
smoking bans.
Foster said he believes the tobacco industry is behind Tri-State's
efforts. "More than tobacco taxes, these Clean Air ordinances have the
cultural effect of making smoking less acceptable, and they know that,"
he said.
Legislation to permit smoking at the state's racetracks probably
wouldn't pass either the House or Senate Health and Human Resources
Committees, he said.
As a physician, Foster said he would have a hard time voting for any
legislation that would expose workers to the significant health risks
from secondhand smoke. "We're trying to protect the employees, and it
would set an bad example for our interest in promoting public health
and controlling health care costs," he said.
Delegate Bobbie Hatfield, D-Kanawha, had similar thoughts.
"It's a health care issue to me," said Hatfield, a nurse. "I have to
take care of these people. And it is not a pleasant death. It's a
suffocation."
Staff writer Phil Kabler contributed to this report. Reach Alison Knezevich at alis...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1240.
Posted September 27, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Monday, August 3, 2009. Used by permission.
Campus Smoking Ban on Front Burner; Clements Wants Task Force to Discuss Policy
by Cassie Shaner
An effort to revise WVU’s oncampus smoking policy is gaining steam, and
the discussion will likely heat up even more when students return this
fall.
The WVU Student Government Association last February voted 13-0, with
one abstention, in favor of a resolution to develop a new smoking
policy that would prohibit lighting up on campus. It was forwarded to
the president’s office for consideration, but no further action has
been taken.
Chris Roberts, president of Tobacco-Free Mountaineers, said WVU’s
summer break and the transition to James P. Clements’ presidency, which
began June 30, slowed the proposal’s momentum. But Roberts plans to
meet with WVU Faculty Senate chairman Nigel Clark this month to
reignite discussion of the issue.
“It’s in the works,” Roberts said. “There’s progress being made. ... I
believe once the fall semester rolls around, things will start
happening a little bit faster.”
Clark said he’s asked the Senate’s welfare committee chairwoman to
identify representatives from WVU’s administration, Staff Council,
Student Government Association (SGA) and Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences
Center to discuss the smoking policy.
“It’s evident that there’s several constituencies that want to deal
with it, and it’s not productive to deal with it separately,” Clark
said. “We really should be more coherent.”
WVU spokesman Dan Kim said Clements has heard from students and others
about the issue this summer, and said he wants to get everyone on the
same page, too.
“Dr. Clements is interested in putting together a constituent-based
task force to discuss the smoking policy,” Kim said. “He will look to
do this in the fall when faculty and students are on campus.”
Kim said the policy would have to be posted for public comment and
approved by the WVU Board of Governors before any changes could be
implemented, however.
Dr. Fred Butcher, WVU’s interim vice president of health sciences, said
he would follow the same procedure when he announced plans earlier this
week to develop a policy that would prohibit smoking at the Robert C.
Byrd Health Sciences Center (HSC) — even on sidewalks and in parking
lots — by Nov. 19.
Monongalia Health System, HealthSouth MountainView Regional
Rehabilitation Hospital and WVU Healthcare — which includes WVU
Hospitals and University Health Associates — also plan to ban smoking
on-site by that date, the same day as the American Cancer Society’s
Great American Smokeout.
Butcher said a green line was painted outside the HSC several years ago
to mark the 50-foot distance from the facility where people are allowed
to smoke. Elsewhere on campus, WVU’s existing smoking policy —
established in 1990 — prohibits smoking in buildings and
universityowned vehicles, but students are allowed to smoke outdoors
and in residence halls, with administrative approval.
SGA President Jason Zuccari said the resolution approved last February
was just the first step in addressing the issue. SGA plans to work with
Clements and other constituencies on campus to take a more serious look
at the policy this year, but he said it will take time.
“It’s a complex issue, and it’s not something we can put together
overnight...,” Zuccari said, citing the civil rights issues involved.
“It affects everyone. It’s not just a student issue.”
WVU Staff Council chairwoman Jo Morrow said classified staff discussed
changes to the policy at a meeting July 20, but they’re waiting for a
task force to be formed to discuss the policy further.
“It’s a 19-year-old policy that we would like to see updated...,”
Morrow said. “We want to be on the same page as the students and
faculty. When that task force is put in place, hopefully we can change
some things.”
If the task force decides to alter the policy, Clark said the various
constituency groups involved will likely agree on language that’s
acceptable to everyone involved. Clark said the Faculty Senate and
other groups could approve language related to the policy, but they
would have to do their homework first.
“We would likely have to study what other campuses have done,” Clark
said. “There’s a great deal of information out there.”
According to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, at least 305
colleges and universities nationwide have established policies that
prohibit smoking on campus entirely. Only the West Virginia School of
Osteopathic Medicine has done so in West Virginia.
Eight schools in West Virginia have eliminated smoking in residential
housing facilities, including Fairmont State University and Marshall
University.
Posted August 30, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, July 31, 2009. Used by permission.
Health Board Chair Happy with its Makeup; Member Urges Others to Read Health Care Bill
by Tracy Eddy
Monongalia County Board of Health (BOH) chairman Sam Chico III said he
“couldn’t be happier with the makeup of the board,” during its Thursday
meeting.
The board announced the reappointment of member August Lucci, who is
serving his BOH third term. The Monongalia County Commission
unanimously voted to reappoint Lucci at its Wednesday meeting.
Chico said he was “relieved” Lucci was reappointed, because of his experience and his financial expertise.
“I find it very comforting that he’s overseeing our financials,” Chico said.
Chico was unanimously re-elected as the board’s chairman, when the BOH elected officers during the meeting.
He was appointed to the board in 2007, to fill an unexpired term after
former Vice Chairman Charles Sell resigned. Chico’s term expires June
30, 2010.
Donna Tennant was re-elected as vice chairwoman. She was appointed to
the board in 2007 and served as vice chairwoman during her first year.
Lucci was reappointed to serve on its financial committee.
Executive Director Jim Strosnider said the board typically appoints one
of its members to work with administrators on the health department’s
finances.
Also at Thursday’s meeting, board member Robert Wheeler encouraged
everyone to read the health care bill Congress is reviewing.
Wheeler said he believes the bill, if it is passed, would affect all the local health departments “significantly.”
“I think everyone needs to read it,” he said. “I encourage you to
figure out what Congress is trying to say to you. If you don’t read it,
then don’t be surprised.”
Smoking Ban Still Controversial
On
Wednesday, Monongalia Health System, HealthSouth MountainView Regional
Rehabilitation Hospital, WVU’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center
and WVU Healthcare — which includes WVU Hospitals and University Health
Associates — announced plans to make their facilities completely smoke
free by Nov. 19.
The announcement was briefly addressed during the public comment portion of Thursday’s BOH meeting.
John McGraw, spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video Lottery
Association, said he believes that the decision for or against a
comprehensive smoking ban should be made on the state level.
“I have always believed there should be a level playing field across
the state,” he said. “The actions that have occurred in this county and
many others in the state have done nothing to strengthen that belief.”
McGraw said that, with more support, maybe the state legislature will be prompted to “do something about it.”
Chico responded to McGraw’s comments, saying, “I disagree with you on
one point, John. I believe it should be a federal issue.”
Beverly Keener, the region’s tobacco prevention coordinator, said she
was “glad” the areas' medical facilities had decided to go completely
smoke free.
She also announced that, earlier this week, Grant County became the
19th county in the state to pass a comprehensive smoking ban.
The Mon County BOH tabled a vote on its own comprehensive smoking ban in May 2008.
Posted August 1, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, July 30, 2009. Used by permission.
Lucci Reappointed to BOH; Former Member Calls Decision ‘discriminatory’
by Tracy Eddy
Monongalia County Board of Health member August Lucci will serve a third term.
The Monongalia County Commission unanimously voted to reappoint Lucci to the BOH during its Wednesday meeting.
Colleen Harshberger, WVU’s interim director of student wellness,
had also applied for the seat. Commissioner Bill Bartolo said the
County Commission interviewed Harshberger, but voted to reappoint Lucci
because of his experience on the board.
Lucci did not respond to The Dominion Post in time to comment for this report.
Former BOH member Dorcas Davis spoke out against the reappointment during the meeting’s public comment period, calling the County Commission’s actions “discriminatory.”
But County Commission President Asel Kennedy stands by the decision.
Lucci’s second five-year term expired June 30. He has been a member of
the BOH since July 1, 1999. His third term will expire in 2014.
Davis served on the BOH for two five-year terms, but was not
reappointed when her second term expired on June 30, 2008. She was
replaced by BOH member Robert Wheeler.
She said when she asked the County Commission to be reappointed, at the
time, she was told two terms was long enough for someone to serve.
Davis said the same thing happened to former BOH chairwoman Mary Jane
Kerns when she asked to be reappointed when her term expired in 2007.
Kerns was replaced by BOH chairman Sam Chico.
“Is this because we’re women and this is a good ol’ boys club?” Davis
said. “A lot of the health issues are women’s issues and I would like
to see more women on the board.”
Kennedy said it was “normal procedure” to reappoint a board member, if
that board member has “served the board faithfully” and has expressed
an interest in continuing to serve.
Board members are not reappointed if they aren’t active members, he
said, which could mean they don’t come to meetings or they don’t “study
up” on the entity their board governs or the issues it faces.
Kennedy said during his eight years on the County Commission, the
Commission has chosen not to reappoint about four or five members of
various boards, authorities or commissions for those reasons.
Harshberger is “a very nice person,” he said, and the County Commission
has put her in its pool of applicants in case another position for
which she is suited comes up.
Posted August 1, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, July 30, 2009. Used by permission.
City Med Centers Ban Smoking; Policy Will Take Effect Nov. 19
by Cassie Shaner
Starting Nov. 19, smokers will no longer be able to light up
outside most Morgantown medical facilities. Monongalia Health System,
HealthSouth MountainView Regional Rehabilitation Hospital, WVU’s Robert
C. Byrd Health Sciences Center (HSC) and WVU Healthcare — which
includes WVU Hospitals and University Health Associates — announced
plans to make their facilities completely smoke-free by Nov. 19 at a
joint press conference Wednesday.
Smoking is already prohibited inside each facility, but it’s permitted
in designated areas outdoors. Officials said eliminating smoking onsite
entirely will set a good example for the community, promote healthy
behaviors and help employees, patients and others to quit.
“We’re doing this because we’re a health care institution, and it’s the
right thing to do,” Bruce McClymonds, president and CEO of WVU
Hospitals said. “It’s good for the health of our patients, our visitors
and our employees.”
McClymonds said 39 hospitals in West Virginia and 1,739 hospitals
nationwide prohibit smoking, and employees at WVU Hospitals have
suggested for years that smoking be banned.
Each facility plans to implement no-smoking policies that will apply to
patients, employees, visitors and students. Dr. Fred Butcher, interim
vice president of health sciences at WVU, said the HSC policy will be
presented to the WVU Board of Governors (BOG) for final approval
following a public comment period.
“We have been committed to addressing this issue for many years, in
many regards,” Butcher said. “This is the final step in what has been a
very long process and has involved a large number of individuals.”
The next BOG meeting is Sept. 11, but Butcher said the policy would not
likely be submitted for consideration until the board’s Nov. 6 meeting.
Developing the policy, posting it for public comment and making changes
will take time, he said.
The target date for the policies to take effect is the same day as the
Great American Smokeout, a national event sponsored by the American
Cancer Society to encourage smokers to quit. Officials for each entity
said they plan to offer cessation programs, counseling and other
services to help employees and patients affected by the policies to
quit smoking before the changes are implemented.
“We realize tobacco is very addictive, and for some, this new policy
will be a hard adjustment,” said Dave Robertson, president and CEO of
Monongalia General Hospital. “During the time leading up to Nov. 19,
we’ll be offering a variety of resources to assist hospital staff who
desire to give up tobacco.”
Representatives for each entity have been meeting for the past two
months to discuss the smoke-free transition, and they’ve developed a
logo to alert patients, employees and visitors of the changes,
according to a press release. HealthSouth CEO Vickie Demers said the
coordinated effort should make it easier for patients, employees and
others to adjust to the new rules.
“With similar environments and policies, the community will likely grow
accustomed to not using tobacco when at a local health care facility,
which, of course, is ultimately our goal,” Demers said.
Sen. Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, serves as chairman of the state Senate’s
health committee. He noted that West Virginia has the sixth-highest
rate of tobacco use in the country and praised Mon General,
Health-South, WVU Healthcare and Health Sciences for “stepping up and
leading by example.”
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said the announcement was “wonderful news.”
“I’m thrilled with the collaboration of the leadership of the three
large entities that are going smoke free,” Whitworth said. “I think it
sends the right message that we are a health-minded community.”
Whitworth said she hopes the Monongalia County Board of Health will be
inspired by the leadership of the medical community.
The board tabled a proposal in May 2008 that would have banned smoking
in bars, restaurants and other facilities countywide.
Posted August 1, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, July 2, 2009. Used by permission.
New Lease Would Ban Smoking in Pool Hall; City says 2nd-hand Smoke a Concern at Met Theatre
by Alex Lang
Morgantown
City Council is expected to vote to sign a new lease with the Met
Billiards Parlor. If it passes, the lease will include a clause that
the city will no longer allow smoking in the facility, and the pool
hall owner is not happy. “I don’t like it” owner William Bonfili said.
“I’m losing business.”
Bonfili said about 15 percent of his customers are smokers and he fears
they will take their business to another establishment. The parlor is
in the basement of the Metropolitan Theatre on High Street. The parlor
has a separate entrance from the main theater entrance.
Council members discussed the lease at Tuesday’s work session and could vote on it at a future meeting.
The Morgantown Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners (BOPARC) is
the “landlord” for the city-owned theater and BOPARC Director Mark Wise
said they are working with the owner and other community organizations
to make up for any loss of business the parlor might see because of the
ban.
Options include working with Main Street Morgantown to bring a billiard
tournament to the facility or other creative ways to attract more
customers, Wise said.
City Manager Dan Boroff said the decision to ban smoking from the
facility came about because there were concerns of the secondhand smoke
entering other parts of the theater.
The Morgantown Theatre Company, an acting group for chil- dren and
teens, also uses the theater. Bonfili said some theater members
complained about the smoke.
Calls to the theater company’s executive director Hillary Phillips were not returned.
“[The children are] not there at the same time,” Bonfili said. “That’s what I don’t understand.”
Bonfili said his clients are usually in there much later in the day
than those of the theater company and there is little overlap of times
in which the two groups are in the facility.
Bonfili said the parlor opens at 4 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 1 p.m.
Friday-Saturday. He added that if he has a good crowd, he will stay
open as late as 2 a.m.
While he’s not happy about the decision, Bonfili said he knows that if
he wants to keep his business open he will have to abide by the new
rules.
The council must vote on the lease agreement because the theater is city-owned.
Posted July 5, 2009
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, July 2, 2009. Used by permission.
Kennedy: Commission Typically Reappoints Those Who Still Want to Serve
by Al;ex Lang
Monongalia County Board of Health (BOH) member August Lucci is still
serving on the board and his reappointment will likely occur, according
to county commission President Asel Kennedy.
Lucci’s five-year term ended Tuesday and he sought to be reappointed,
but WVU’s Interim Director of student health and wellness Colleen
Harshberger recently said she had applied for Lucci’s seat. The
Monongalia County Commission oversees the board and appoints its
members.
Kennedy said when a term expires for a board member, they can continue
to serve until the commission votes to remove them. Removing Lucci was
not on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting, so the commission took no
action.
Kennedy said he expects Lucci’s reappointment to be on a future commission agenda.
In the past, the Commission has typically reappointed members who want to continue serving.
“Traditionally, if someone serves faithfully, we leave you on the board,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy estimated that 90 percent of people who apply for reappointment are granted it by the commission.
He added that he could only recall two or three cases when a board member wasn’t granted additional terms.
If it is on the agenda, Kennedy said he believes Lucci will be reappointed to his position on the board.
Kennedy previously told The Dominion Post that he would support Lucci’s reappointment.
“He’s been on there for a little while,” he previously said. “I’m under
the assumption that if he wants to be reappointed, he will be. And he
has said he wants to be reappointed. I think the Board of Health is
doing a good job.”
Earlier this month, Harshberger said she sent a letter of interest to the County Commission.
She also had to fill out the BOH eligibility packet, which includes a
background check, that all applicants for the county’s
commission-appointed boards, commissions and authorities are now
required to complete.
Harshberger did not return phone calls Wednesday seeking comment.
Previously she had said that she felt she brings a different eye
because both young people and seniors need to be represented on the
board. With the mix of students and regular residents, it’s important
everyone’s concerns are met.
“Issues that are pertinent to students need to be addressed,” she previously told The Dominion Post.
Posted July 5, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, June 30, 2009. Used by permission.
Student Health Director Wants BOH Seat; Lucci’s 2nd Term on Health Board Concludes Today
by Tracy Eddy
Colleen Harshberger, WVU’s interim director of student health and
wellness, said she has applied for a seat on the Monongalia County
Board of Health.
County Administrator Diane DeMedici previously said two people had
expressed interest in a seat on the BOH that August Lucci currently
occupies. His term expires today.
Lucci was one, and Harshberger identified herself as the other to The Dominion Post Monday.
County Commission President Asel Kennedy would not confirm Harshberger
was the applicant when The Dominion Post contacted him Monday
afternoon. DeMedici was out of the office Monday.
Harshberger, 46, of Morgantown, said she sent a letter of interest to
the County Commission earlier this month. She said she has also filled
out the BOH eligibility packet, which includes a background check, that
all applicants for the county’s commission-appointed boards,
commissions and authorities are now required to complete.
Students and young adults need to be represented on the BOH,
Harshberger said, especially since Morgantown is home to WVU and half
the area’s population is made up of young adults.
“Issues that are pertinent to students need to be addressed,” she said.
Those issues could be anything from the county’s alcohol policies to
how young adults can get health insurance, she said.
Harshberger’s experience with health and wellness started in 1987, when
she managed the employee wellness program from Reebok in Massachusetts,
she said.
Since moving to Morgantown in 1995, she said she has owned and operated
a yoga studio, worked for NIOSH, taught health classes at WVU and
worked as the university’s manager of fitness and wellness at the
student Rec Center.
Harshberger said she believes she could bring a different perspective to the BOH.
“I’ve been working in community-based health and wellness for a long
time,” she said. “I don’t know about the resumes of the board members,
but I think that some of them have been on the board for awhile. A new
way to look at things might be helpful.”
Lucci sent a letter to the County Commission earlier this month, asking
to be reappointed to the board for another fiveyear term.
He has been a member of the BOH since July 1, 1999, meaning he has served two fiveyear terms.
Lucci did not respond to The Dominion Post in time for this report
Posted July 5, 2009 |
Smoking Bans Don't Lead to Layoffs
The Public News Service is reporting on a new study published in the journal Prevention Science
that smoking bans don't cause businesses, such as restaurants and bars,
to lay off workers. Yet another in a series of worldwide studies
debunking tobacco industry propaganda claiming that smoking bans hurt
the economy. Read the entire article here.
Posted June 25, 2009
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, June 12, 2009. Used by permission.
Historic Anti-smoking Vote to Give FDA New Power
Associated Press
Congress
struck the government’s strongest anti-smoking blow in decades Thursday
with a Senate vote to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in
cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products
aimed at young people.
Cigarette foes said the changes could cut into the 400,000 deaths every
year caused by smoking and reduce the $100 billion in annual health
care costs linked to tobacco.
The legislation, one of the most dramatic anti-smoking initiatives
since the U.S. surgeon general’s warning 45 years ago that tobacco
causes lung cancer, would give the Food and Drug Administration
authority to regulate the content, marketing and advertising of
cigarettes and other tobacco products.
‘‘This legislation represents the strongest action Congress has ever
taken to reduce tobacco use, the leading preventable cause of death in
the United States,’’ declared Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for
Tobacco-free Kids.
The 79-17 Senate vote sends the measure back to the House, which in
April passed a similar but not identical version. House acceptance of
the Senate bill would send it directly to President Barack Obama, who
supports the action. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that ‘‘from what I
have seen so far, I believe it will be possible for us to accept their
bill and send it right on to the president.’’
Obama’s signature would then add tobacco to other huge, nationally
important areas that have come under greater government supervision
since his presidency began. Those include banking, housing and autos.
Still to come, if Congress can agree: health care.
Supporters of FDA regulation of tobacco have struggled for more than a
decade to overcome powerful resistance — from the industry and
elsewhere. In 2000 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the agency did not
have the authority under current law to regulate tobacco products and
the George W. Bush administration opposed several previous efforts by
Congress to write a new law.
Thursday’s legislation gives the FDA power to evaluate the contents of
tobacco products and to order changes or bans on those that are a
danger to public health. The agency could limit nicotine yields but not
ban nicotine or cigarettes.
Regulators could prohibit tobacco companies from using candy or other
flavors in cigarettes that tend to attract young smokers, and restrict
advertising in publications often read by teenagers. Rules on sales to
minors would be toughened, as would warning labels. Tobacco companies
would have to get FDA approval for new products, and would be barred
from using terms such as ‘‘light’’ or ‘‘mild’’ that imply a smaller
health risk.
Costs of the new program would be paid for through a fee imposed on tobacco companies.
‘‘This is a bill that will protect children and will protect America,’’
said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., a leading supporter. ‘‘Every day that we
don’t act, 3,500 American kids — children — will light up for the first
time. That is enough to fill 70 school buses.’’
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that FDA regulation could
reduce underage smoking by 11 percent over the next decade. There are
more than 40 million smokers in America.
The bill, said American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown, ‘‘provides a
tremendous opportunity to finally hold tobacco companies accountable
and restrict efforts to addict more children and adults.’’
Posted June 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, June 7, 2009. Used by permission.
Cessation Grant Goes Up In Smoke; State Stops Funds for County Program That Helped 70 Women
by Tracy Eddy
WVU graduate student Maria Williams believes that everyone has an
addiction. Her’s is chocolate, she said. Since January, Williams has
been working with the Monongalia County Health Department to help
pregnant women, and women of child-bearing age, kick an addiction of
their own — smoking.
The program is free for any pregnant woman or woman of child-bearing age who wants to quit.
Williams is project coordinator for the health department’s Tobacco
Free Moms To Be program, which has helped about 70 women cut cigarettes
from their daily routines.
And statistics show that women in West Virginia can use that help. One
state official said the percentage of pregnant women in the state who
smoke is more than twice the number nationwide.
But the state is not renewing the grant that funds the program, and
Tobacco Free Moms To Be will be shut down when the grant expires June
30.
“It really is a shame,” Williams said. “Just when we were really
getting started — and people were really responding to the ads and
coming in — the whole thing just runs out of gas.”
Kathy Danberry, the state’s cessation program manager, said the state
Division of Tobacco Prevention cut the health department’s Tobacco Free
Moms To Be grant — and five others like it in the state — because the
programs weren’t performing as well as it originally hoped they would.
“It was an across-the-board cut,” she said. “It was a hard decision to
make. Nobody did anything wrong. It just didn’t work the way I wanted
it to.”
It was the first year for the grant, Danberry said, and the last, until
the Division of Tobacco Prevention can come up with a consistent way to
fund the program for all 55 of the state’s counties.
The Hampshire County Health Department and family resource networks in
Barbour County, Fayette County, Wood County and southern West Virginia
also received the grants.
The grant the Mon County Health Department received was for $50,000,
said Art Adams, program manager for public health planning and
development.
About $19,081 of the money was used to advertise the program and $2,600
was used to cover the cost of Williams’ training as a tobacco treatment
specialist, according to budget documents.
The grant money also covers Williams’ wages. She is paid about $20 or
$25 per hour of work, according to the documents, and, as of March 20,
she had received $13,000.
Using one-on-one coaching, Williams helped women in the program figure
out why they were smoking, and what they could do instead of lighting
up when the urge came.
“I always tell them, they’re not smoking because cigarettes taste so
great, smell so great or do something wonderful for their bodies,” she
said. “It’s a coping mechanism.”
Participants are asked to keep smoking logs, Williams said, keeping
track of where they are when they get the urge to smoke, what mood they
are in, what they are doing and what happened right before they got the
urge.
People use cigarettes to cope with a variety of feelings, Williams
said, including stress, boredom, anxiety or loneliness.
If they catch themselves craving a cigarette a little earlier each time
— maybe in the middle of the cigarette, maybe while they’re lighting
up, maybe before they pull the cigarette from the pack — then it’s
easier for them to put the cigarette down and do something else, she
said.
Other ways to deal with stress and anxiety include chewing gum,
doodling, playing with a rubber band or taking a walk.
Williams said the coaching sessions are more effective than trying to
replace the cigarettes with nicotine gum, pills or patches. The
sessions help participants figure out new ways to cope with their
emotions, so they don’t need to rely on cigarettes or other nicotine
products.
Participants are encouraged to cut themselves off slowly, so they are
never overwhelmed by withdrawal, Williams said. She tells them to try
buying one pack of cigarettes at a time instead of a carton, and put
the pack in another room, so it takes more of an effort to get to them.
After the first coaching session, participants schedule their own
sessions, and come as often or as little as they like, she said.
Williams told the participants they could always call her if they
needed her. And they did call, she said. They called her office at the
health department and, at times, even her cell phone.
Calls to set up coaching sessions started coming in January and
February, Williams said. She said she had to turn away several men who
wanted to quit smoking, because the grant only allowed her to coach
pregnant women or women of childbearing age.
The health department hopes to coach at least 100 women before June 30,
Adams said, which was the goal the state set in the grant.
Adams said the health department was “devastated” the grant wouldn’t be renewed.
“With this particular program, we fit a notch that others didn’t,
because we had that personal, one-on-one coaching,” he said. “We will
still be able to link people with other resources, but we’ll be limited
compared to what we could do before.”
A final report on the program, with the total number of people it
reached, will be put together in July, Adams said.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chair of Smoke Free Mon County, said she thinks
the health department’s Tobacco Free Moms to Be program did a lot to
increase public awareness about the dangers of smoking while pregnant.
“I think it had, for a program in its pilot year, some pretty good outcomes,” she said.
Whitworth said she wishes the health department could find another
source of funding for the program. She also would like to see tobacco
cessation services available for anyone who wants to quit using
tobacco.
Williams said she would like to continue offering her coaching services
for a limited number of hours, even after the grant expires, but she
doesn’t know if it’s something that will be permitted.
“I, honestly, in my heart, I care,” she said. “I am so passionate about
this. This is such a vulnerable population, and for them to see there’s
this service for them, it’s just great.”
Danberry said, even though the Tobacco Free Moms to Be program was
ending, the Division of Tobacco Control would not stop trying to get
pregnant women to stop smoking because it’s a “big, big problem” in
West Virginia.
About 28.4 percent of the pregnant women in the state smoke, Danberry
said. About 11 percent of pregnant women nationwide smoke.
“We’re not giving up,” she said. “We’ve still got people out there
working. It’s an issue that really needs to be addressed, and we’re not
going to give up on it.”
The money that was used for the grants — about $500,000 total — will be
put toward the West Virginia Tobacco Quitline in the coming fiscal
year, Danberry said.
Quitline is a telephone hotline designed to help people quit using
tobacco products. People can call the Quitline for free.
In March 2008, Quitline had 250 callers, Danberry said. This March, the number of callers jumped to 991.
“Our Quitline has been going gangbusters,” she said. “We’ve had triple the amount of calls lately.”
Posted June 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Used by permission.
Evansdale Boston Beanery Goes Smoke Free
The
Evansdale Boston Beanery went smoke-free Monday, and members of
the Smoke-Free Mon County coalition met there for lunch to celebrate
the change. During the lunch, Valerie Frey-McClung and Catherine
Whitworth, co-chairs of the coalition, and Monongalia County Board of
Health member Donna Tennant presented Dave Seman, president of the
Boston Hospitality Group, with a certificate of appreciation for
operating a smoke-free business. The restaurant also hosted a
smoke-free happy hour Monday.
Posted June 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, May 29, 2009. Used by permission.
Health dept. budget is ‘tough’ one to balance [excerpt]
by Tracy Eddy
....Also, Tuesday’s meeting marked the one-year anniversary of when the
BOH tabled a vote on the proposed comprehensive smoking ban. Even
though the vote was tabled, advocates and objecters of the smoking ban
still come to the BOH meetings to voice their opinions during the
public comment portion of the board meetings.
The ban would prohibit smoking in all restaurants, bars and video
lottery establishments. Similar bans were passed in 18 other counties
in the state.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said the
BOH’s decision to table the smoking ban was something “we all regret.”
Whitworth also mentioned the Evansdale Boston Beanery’s recent decision
to go smoke-free starting June 1. Chico applauded when Whitworth talked
about the restaurant.
She said the coalition has spoken to several of the area’s bar and
music venue owners, and many of them have expressed an interest in
going smoke free, but are waiting for the BOH to make a decision on the
issue.
If the BOH passes the ban, it would level the competitive playing field
for the bars, restaurants and music venues, Whitworth said, so they
wouldn’t have to worry about losing business because they no longer
permit smoking.
“It’s a great way to do more with less,” she said....
Posted June 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Daily Athenaeum on Thursday, May 28th, 2009. Used by permission.
Local Boston Beanery Will Ban Smoking Starting June 1
by Matt Narvin
The Boston Beanery located on Patteson will become smoke-free as of June 1.
“(Management has) been struggling with this decision for a long
time,” said David Seman, president of the Boston Hospitality Group.
This is the second of Boston Beanery’s restaurants to go
smoke-free. Its restaurant in Uniontown, Pa., went smoke-free after a
bill passed restricting smoking in restaurants in Pennsylvania.
“In
Morgantown, we debated it over the year, and a significant amount of
customers requested (the restaurant) be smoke-free. Mindsets are
changing,” Seman said.
The Boston Beanery has set up a patio outside to accommodate smokers, which will have a heater during the winter.
“(We are) in the business of making money, so we are always
concerned about any customer, smoker or not.” Seman said.
“I think it will actually bring more customers, but it could go
either way,” said Erin Graziani, a server at the Boston Beanery.
West
Virginia University has also been under pressure by the Student
Government Association to revise the current university policy.
The most updated policy is from 1990, which banned smoking inside any University building.
“(SGA)
passed a resolution that supported a revision of the smoking policy,”
said Tyler Pearson, a former SGA governor and 2009 WVU graduate. “The
intent was to stimulate discussion about revising and updating the
policy ... because since the ’80s, many studies have been done showing
that it’s not just the smoker who is at risk.”
Pearson said that while some progress has been made, it’s still an ongoing issue.
“We think it’s been successful,” he said.
“We’ve met with the president’s office, but (the talks) got put
on hold until (WVU President James P. Clements) takes office.”
Organizations such as Smoke Free Mon County have been pushing for revision to the countywide smoking laws.
Currently, laws ban smoking in any work place, except for bars and restaurants.
Monongalia County remains one of the few counties in West
Virginia without an absolute smoking ban in restaurants and bars.
Posted June 13, 2009 |
This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Monday, May 25, 2009. Used by permission.
Clearing the Air -- Boston Beanery
in Evansdale Will Go Smoke-free June 1
by Tracy Eddy
Servers at
the Evansdale Boston Beanery are wearing buttons to tell customers about a big
change in the restaurant’s future.
Starting
next Monday, the restaurant, at the intersection of University Avenue and
Patteson Drive, will be a smoke-free establishment.
“We think
it’s a good decision,” said David Seman, president of the Boston Hospitality
Group. “We think it’s the right time to do this. A lot of people are changing
their mindsets.”
Seman said
several of the restaurant’s customers had requested that the restaurant go
smoke-free.
The
Evansdale location seats about 190 customers, he said, and has about 70
employees, including management.
Staff is
making arrangements to accommodate the restaurant’s smoking customers, Seman
said. There’s an outside porch area they can go to smoke. It has a canopy
overhead and will be heated in the winter, he said.
“Hopefully
we can accommodate them and they can respect our decision to go smoke-free,”
Seman said.
The Boston
Beanery restaurant on High Street does not have a similar set-up to accommodate
its smoking customers, he said, which is one reason that location is not going
smoke-free.
The
Evansdale location is more family oriented than the High Street location, he
said, and the Boston Beanery on High Street gets more customers who smoke than
the one in Evansdale.
Seman said
he is not ruling out the possibility that the High Street location could go
smoke-free sometime in the future.
To
celebrate the change, the Evansdale Boston Beanery will host a happy hour
reception June 1.
Seman said
staff will “scrub and scour” the restaurant the night before the event.
Catherine
Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said the coalition would be
at the celebration, during lunchtime, to present Seman with a certificate of
appreciation.
“We’re
very happy to be seeing this establishment go smoke-free,” she said. “It has a
long history of allowing smoking, so it’s a big deal. We hope that other
establishments will follow the lead and choose to go smoke-free. We think this
is a growing trend, with or without the Board of Health.”
In May
2008, the Monongalia County Board of Health tabled a vote on a comprehensive
smoking ban that would prohibit smoking in all restaurants, bars and video
lottery establishments. Similar bans were passed in 18 other counties in the
state. Other businesses in the area have been voluntarily smokefree, even though
a countywide regulation has not been passed.
The Texas
Roadhouse, in Star City, became a smoke-free establishment in
January and the Varsity Club, a sports pub on Willowdale Road, has been a
smoke-free establishment since it opened in June 2008.
Whitworth
said there are several other restaurants in the county that promote themselves
as “family friendly” but are not smokefree establishments.
She said
members of the coalition have approached owners of several other area
restaurants about voluntarily
going smoke-free. Coalition members visit the restaurants and talk to the owners
about the dangers of secondhand smoke and how they can protect their employees,
she said.
“When
restaurants that have a history of allowing smoking go smoke-free, it’s a big
step,” Whitworth said. “But we also really appreciate any restaurants and bars
that have chosen to be smokefree from the beginning.
Posted June 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Saturday, May 23, 2009. Used by permission.
Cigarette Makers Lose Landmark Case Appeal
Associated Press
A federal appeals court on Friday agreed with the major elements of a
2006 landmark ruling that found the nation’s top tobacco companies
guilty of racketeering and fraud for deceiving the public about the
dangers of smoking.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington
unanimously upheld requirements that manufacturers change the way they
market cigarettes. The requirements, which have been on hold pending
appeal, would ban labels such as ‘‘low tar,’’ ‘‘light,’’ ‘‘ultra
light’’ or ‘‘mild,’’ since such cigarettes have been found no safer
than others.
Throughout the 10 years the case has been litigated, tobacco companies
have denied committing fraud. The companies argued the ban on labels
like ‘‘light’’ would cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Philip Morris USA and its parent company, Altria Group Inc., said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.
‘‘The court’s conclusions are not supported by the law or the evidence
presented at trial, and we believe the exceptional importance of these
issues justifies further review,’’ Altria attorney Murray Garnick said
in a statement.
Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, one
of six health advocacy groups that participated in the lawsuit, said
the appeals decision ‘‘represents a dramatic victory for public health
and an emphatic condemnation of the tobacco industry and its
behavior.’’
The government filed the civil case under a 1970 racketeering law
commonly known as RICO, used primarily to prosecute mobsters in cases
in which there has been a group effort to commit fraud.
The suit was first filed in 1999 during the Clinton administration and
pursued by the Bush administration after unsuccessful attempts to
settle.
Posted June 13, 2009 | Boston Beanery Evansdale Going Smoke-Free
Boston Beanery Restaurant & Tavern, has announced that the
Morgantown – Evansdale location of the regional chain will become
smoke-free effective June 1, 2009.
Smoking is being eliminated inside the establishment in response
to customer requests and a growing trend within the hospitality
industry. According to David Seman, President of Boston
Hospitality Group, the time is right for the change. “Many of our
customers have enjoyed smoke free restaurants and bars when travelling
and would like to see them in their home town. It makes sense for
this location with its proximity to the hospitals to go smoke free
now. Our management and staff are ready and we feel very positive
about the change,” said Seman. An outdoor smoking area will be
established for patrons who wish to smoke.
On June 1st, The Monongalia County Tobacco Prevention Partnership
will present the restaurant with a certificate of appreciation for its
commitment to clean indoor air. Partnership chair, Catherine
Whitworth, said “The Boston Beanery is an institution in Morgantown
with a faithful clientele. When an establishment has a long
history of allowing smoking, it’s a big step to go smoke-free. We
welcome this change and appreciate their decision to provide a healthy
environment for their employees and customers.”
The Boston Beanery has been in operation in Morgantown for 26
years. The Evansdale restaurant is located at 383 Patteson
Drive.
Posted May 22, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, April 19, 2009. Used by permission.
The Dominion Post 100 Most Influential -- #23 Proposed Monongalia County Smoking Ban; Not a Cough from Health Board on Smoking Ban
By Tracy Eddy
A comprehensive smoking ban has been off the Monongalia County Board of
Health’s (BOH) agenda since last spring, but Mon County residents for
and against the ban still attend meetings so the board can hear their
opinions.
The BOH is still mum on when the ban will make its way back to the agenda.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said she
attends every BOH meeting just in case a board member has a question
about the ban, or a change of heart regarding it.
“We’re there because we want to continue to encourage the Board of
Health to put the topic back on the agenda,” she said. “It could happen
at any time, and we want to be there when it happens.”
Whitworth said even though the coalition has not been successful in
encouraging the BOH to pass the comprehensive smoking ban, it has seen
an increase in the number of people who want to be involved in the
process.
“We’re pleased to see the increase in community involvement,” she said.
“And we continue to advocate all policies and regulations that reduce
the harm of tobacco.”
John McGraw, spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video Lottery
Association, said he comes to the meetings because he wants to make
sure the BOH knows how the people in the association he represents
feel.
“I just want to make sure the voices of the bar owners and the video
lottery establishment owners are heard,” he said. “We feel we’re making
noise. We don’t feel the need to have everyone pack the room.”
McGraw said he believes the decision for or against a comprehensive smoking ban should be made on the state level.
The board tabled a vote on the smoking ban in May, after the Smoke-Free
Mon County Coalition filed a complaint with the West Virginia Ethics
Commission, alleging that board members Sam Chico III, Bob Bell and
August Lucci had conflicts of interests related to the ban.
The ethics complaint was dismissed in June, after the state Ethics
Commission declared that the allegations and evidence provided were not
in violation of the state Ethics Act.
Early in 2008, the BOH sought public comment on the proposed ban for 45
days. All public comments were required to include residents’ names,
addresses and phone numbers.
Because of the “personal information” the comments included, Chico would not release the comments to the public.
A total of 3,578 comments were received — about 1,441 for the proposal and 2,137 against it, he said.
The Dominion Post submitted a Freedom of Information request in March
to obtain copies of the public comments. The BOH agreed to release the
comments, but with the names, addresses and phone numbers omitted.
In April, The Dominion Post filed a lawsuit against the Monongalia
County Board of Health to receive unredacted copies of the comments.
Editor Geri Ferrara said the newspaper had no interest in publishing
information the respondents would prefer to remain unpublished, but the
origin of the response was key to the credibility of the final tally.
At a hearing on April 23, Monongalia Circuit Court Judge Robert Stone
granted The Dominion Post unrestricted access to all the public
comments.
The BOH was also ordered to pay the newspaper’s court fees — at a total cost of $2,366.35.
Posted April 26, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, April 12, 2009. Used by permission.
The Dominion Post 100 Most Influential -- #43 Marion County Smoking Ban
Marion County Takes on Smoking in 2008 With a Ban In Bars, Video Lottery Establishments
by Katie McDowell
While Monongalia County’s proposed public smoking ban may still be up
in the air, Marion County recently marked one year with a similar ban
in place.
Marion’s 2008 ban added bar, video lottery establishments and an area
of 15 feet from entrances to public buildings to a ban already
encompassing restaurants, retail businesses and other public areas that
was passed in ’04.
The newly revised ban passed on a 3-to-1 vote, with board members Nancy
Park, Betty Fast and John Conaway voting for the changes. Board
chairman Randy Elliot was the sole dissenting vote, while Lenny
Stafford abstained from voting, as he owns a bar in the area.
According to statistics published by The Dominion Post, Marion County
joins Harrison and 18 other counties in West Virginia to put the kibosh
on smoking in public places — Ohio, Randolph, Braxton, Calhoun,
Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Randolph, Ritchie,
Roane, Summers, Tucker, Upshur, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming.
Neighboring Pennsylvania recently also became the 33rd state to enact a statewide smoking ban.
And while some folks in Monongalia County are looking to counties like
Marion to help forge a smoking ban of their own, the county’s ban
hasn’t come into being without its own fair share of hiccups.
In fact, Elliot said at the time of the ban’s passing that he didn’t
believe the committee or the board had given the public a “legitimate”
opportunity to comment on the proposal. Nor did he “expect” the board
to call for a vote on the ban when it did.
Though an agenda for the meeting was posted prior to the vote, it
stated only that the Clean Indoor Air committee would give a report.
Documents outlining the proposed additions to the ban were posted at
several public locations — at the county courthouse, in the J. Harper
Meredith Building, in the public library and at the health department —
but Elliot told The Dominion Post he didn’t believe this constituted a
fair effort to enlist public comment, saying, “People didn’t see it or
understand it. People don’t read that. I just think it could have been
done differently.”
Beverly Keener, a regional tobacco prevention coordinator for
Monongalia and Marion counties, noted that the postings were left up
for several months, in order to elicit more comments. The postings
elicited four comments — all in favor of the ban.
While the ban is still in place, it caused a bit of a stir. In March,
House Bill 2932 was introduced, which would require county commissions
to approve any public health department restrictions on smoking in
public or private venues.
Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion, one of the sponsors of the bill, said
it would “bring transparency” to the process of public healthboard
policy making. Those against the bill question its legitimacy, noting
that county commissioners appoint boards of health, to ensure politics
don’t cloud judgement in matters of public health and safety.
Posted April 13, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, March 27, 2009. Used by permission.
Mon Board of Health Ponders Crown Sewer System; Proposes Buying Land from Coal Company [Excerpt]
by Tracy Eddy
Smoking ban
Also Thursday, WVU professor Bill Reger-Nash spoke addressed the board
in support of the county’s proposed comprehensive smoking ban.
“We are very much influenced by the community we live in,” he said. “If
we change the environment, we can change some people’s health
problems.”
People would be less likely to smoke and children would be less likely
to take up the habit when they got older if it was banned in
restaurants and bars, Reger-Nash said.
“Then the message gets out that it’s just not something we do,” he
said. “You can stop kids from getting on the bandwagon.”
Reger-Nash said the county’s proposed ban was a “good, solid ban” and
not as aggressive as smoking bans found in some other states.
The BOH tabled a vote on the ban in May 2008.
“I would just like to encourage you to continue to think about it,” he
said. “I appreciate all the work you do with the Health Department, but
I do think there’s ample evidence to support the value of a
comprehensive smoking ban.
Reger-Nash is also the coordinator of Morgantown’s Year of Active
Transport, which is devoted to encouraging people to have healthy
lifestyles by walking, bicycling or using public transportation more.
Posted March 27, 2009 | This article appeared in the Charleston Gazette on Monday, March 16, 2009. Used by permission.
Smoking Bans and Smoking Politics
By Phil Kabler
Newest bad bill of the session: Legislation introduced in the
House (HB2932) to require county commissions to approve any public
health department restrictions on smoking in public or private places.
The sponsors, including Delegate Mike Caputo, D-Marion, insist
that it is not about overturning smoking bans, but to bring
"transparency" to the policymaking process of public health boards.
However,
it's curious then that the bill applies only to smoking regulations -
not any other health regulations those boards might enact.
It's
also bad public policy, since boards of health were intentionally
designed to be beyond the reach of politics. (The idea is to avoid
scenarios where a politician could overrule health inspectors' shutting
down a restaurant for serious health code violations because the owner
happens to be a relative or friend of the politico.)
Meanwhile,
I'm told that there is a serious lack of support in the House for
increasing the tobacco tax this session, on the grounds that delegates
do not want to impose any tax hikes of any kind in the midst of the
recession.
On a related note: First sign of the end of the recession? After
a down month in January, state limited video lottery revenues were up
10 percent in February, at $36,698,037, an increase of $3.35 million.
Limited video in Kanawha County did even better, jumping 14 percent, to $3,370,241, an increase of $406,369.
Statewide for the 2008-09 budget year to date, LVL revenue is
basically flat, up just 0.6 percent over the same point last year.
(That's better than the racetrack video lottery, which has been hard
hit by the economic downturn with current year revenues down 8 percent,
or a $41.5 million hit from 2007-08.)
That's contrary to a published report indicating that statewide LVL sales are up 3 percent.
It
was misleading, though, in using dollar-in to calculate the "sales"
figures, rather than the Lottery and industry standard of net revenue
(a factor of dollar-in minus dollar-out).
Calculating
video slots revenue using dollar-in is sort of like using total
incidents of intercourse to calculate pregnancy rates: It's going to
give you a number, but not the correct figure.
(That's
why the article cited year-to-date limited video lottery "sales" of
$873 million. In fact, total Lottery revenue to date from all types of
lottery games is but $848.8 million.)
The
premise was that LVL revenues are up in the rest of the state but down
in Kanawha County, presumably because of the county's ban on smoking in
bars and clubs.
That's misleading, too, since Kanawha is not the only county that mandates clean air in bars.
Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1220.
Posted March 17, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, March 1, 2009. Used by permission.
Keep Smoke to Yourself [Excerpt]
by the Associated Press
New research shows smoke is just about as bad as smoking itself — but only 24 states have banned smoking in bars and restaurants.
To keep healthy, what should employees in smokefilled environments do?
Find a new job, said Richard Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence
Center and professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic’s medical school.
‘‘There’s no lower limit of exposure to secondhand smoke that is
safe,’’ Hurt said. Even workplaces with state-of-theart ventilation
systems don’t protect employees if smoking is going on inside the
building, he said.
According to the American Cancer Society, 24 states have instituted a
ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, while 31 ban it in private
workplaces, says the Action on Smoking and Health, a nonsmokers’ rights
organization. A number of remaining states are considering bans on
smoking in indoor public places.
Secondhand smoke has long been known to harm the heart and contribute
to respiratory illnesses, but a recent study in the British Medical
Journal found that exposure to secondhand smoke may increase a
nonsmoker’s risk of cognitive impairment and dementia — in some cases
by up to 30 percent.
High levels of exposure to secondhand smoke may also be close to actual
smoking in terms of increased risk of lung cancer, diabetes and other
tobacco-related maladies, according to the BMJ study.
Posted March 5, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, February 8, 2009. Used by permission.
SGA Passes Smoking Ban Resolution; Student Panel Seeks a New Version of WVU’s 1990 Partial-ban Policy
by Cassie Shaner
The WVU Student Government Association has endorsed a resolution to
make campus smoke free, but at least one SGA member thinks the proposal
could spark controversy.
SGA voted 13-0 Wednesday in favor of a resolution to develop a new
smoking policy that would prohibit lighting up on campus. Student
governor Jared Ramsey abstained from voting, however, due to concerns
about the proposal.
Chris Roberts, president of Tobacco Free Mountaineers, developed the
resolution with student governors Tyler Pearson and Brittany Miller. He
said WVU’s existing smoking policy prohibits smoking in campus
buildings and university-owned vehicles, but students are allowed to
smoke outdoors and in residence halls, with administrative approval.
The policy — which applies to students, faculty, staff and visitors at WVU — took effect in 1990, Roberts said.
“A lot of extensive research has been done since 1990 on the dangers of
secondhand smoke,” Roberts said. “The current policy that’s in place is
outdated and ineffective.”
The resolution endorses “a completely smoke-free campus,” but Ramsey
said it was unclear about what provisions would be included.
Though he’s not opposed to a new smoking policy, Ramsey questioned
whether designated smoking areas would be permitted, how campus
boundaries would be defined and if residence halls and fraternity
houses would be included.
“Designated smoking areas might be a better solution than an entirely
smoke-free campus,” Ramsey said. “Even hospitals have designated
smoking areas.”
Smoker Tim Hutchinson, a 19-year-old junior from Pittsburgh, suggested
establishing smoking areas in wide-open spaces about 30 feet or more
from the entrance to a building.
“I can understand staying away from buildings, but being completely
smoke free might be a little drastic,” Hutchinson said. “There
definitely needs to be a compromise.”
Erin Dailey, a 19-year-old freshman from Danville, Pa., said smoking
zones would be OK, but she would be happy to see WVU go smoke free.
“I hate when I’m walking to class and smoke gets blown in my face,”
Dailey said. “Right in front of the Mountainlair, when people are
walking in and walking out. It gets frustrating.”
Roberts said it’s up to interim WVU President C. Peter Magrath to
review the resolution and make changes to the policy. Both Roberts and
SGA President Jason Parsons said smoking zones, campus boundaries and
other issues would likely be addressed as the policy is formulated.
“I think it’s important that we take proactive steps to protect student
health,” Parsons said. “We know it’s bad for you. We know the
detrimental effects of secondhand smoke.”
Ramsey said the smoking policy should be updated, but it needs to be altered gradually.
“It impacts a lot of people,” Ramsey said. “I don’t smoke, but I have
friends that do. Asking them to go offcampus to smoke is a bit much, I
think.”
WVU spokesman Dan Kim said Magrath and other senior administrators will
conduct a “thorough review” of the resolution to determine how it
should be handled.
“This kind of an issue or resolution hasn’t really come up before, so
they’re not really sure what the procedure is,” Kim said.
About 260 college campuses nationwide have gone smoke free, according
to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, a group that lobbies for
smoke-free policies nationwide.
Tobacco Free Mountaineers conducted a survey of 464 WVU students that
found that about 315 — or 68 percent — would support a smokefree
campus, Roberts said. About 74 students — or 16 percent — indicated
that they would not support a no-smoking policy.
In March 2008, the WVU Faculty Senate voted to support a ban on indoor
smoking in public spaces and workplaces in Monongalia County, though
its members initially voted against the ban a month earlier.
The Monongalia County Board of Health (BOH) was considering the ban at
the time, but it was tabled indefinitely in May.
At a meeting last month, BOH members inquired about a comprehensive
smoking regulation that was suspended in Harrison County. BOH Chairman
Sam Chico III said he was pleased that the board has taken the issue
seriously and not given in to public pressure to pass a rule that might
later need to be rescinded.
Posted February 9, 2009 | This article appeared in the Daily Athenaeum on Friday, February 6, 2009 Used by permission.
Students React to Smoking Ban Proposal
by Melanie Hoffman
Students Thursday reacted with skepticism to West Virginia
University’s Student Government Association’s support of a resolution
to ban smoking.
“I think it’s outrageous and not possible,” said freshman history
major Amanda Selko. “How can they do that? They can’t tell smokers they
can’t smoke outside.”
But Selko seemed to be in the minority of those strictly against the ban.
“I think smoking encroaches others rights more than smokers’
rights,” said junior advertising major Ryan Lowe. “I’m a smoker, I
don’t like smoking.”
Lowe added that he’s from New York City, and the city has gone smoke-free.
“It’s not that much of an inconvenience for smokers,” Lowe said.
Freshman pre-psychology major Alisha Rispoli said that if there
were a decent amount of designated smoking areas there probably
wouldn’t be an issue.
Roger Smith, a Dining Services employee agreed, saying he wouldn’t have a problem walking to a smoking area.
“I’d say over 70 percent of WVU employees smoke,” Smith said.
“They could make an enclosed area for smokers.”
The resolution was proposed by Gov. Tyler Pearson and Gov.
Brittany Miller and passed by a 13-0 vote at Wednesday night’s SGA
meeting. Gov. Jared Ramsey abstained from voting.
Now, the resolution is on its way to Stewart Hall where Pearson
expects it to be reviewed by the President’s Office.
Chris Roberts, a first year eMBA student and president of Tobacco
Free Mountaineers lobbied for SGA’s support by presenting results from
a survey the group conducted last semester.
The survey was done through StudentVoice with members asking
random students in the Mountainlair, Student Recreation Center and
outside of classrooms for their opinions.
Tobacco Free Mountaineers surveyed 500 students but, only 20 percent were smokers.
Of those surveyed, 68 percent said they moderately or strongly
agreed, 16 percent were neutral to it, and 16 percent moderately or
strongly disagreed with a smoking ban.
They also found that 75 percent of those polled would like to see
smoking banned in the stadium, and 67 percent said they would be more
apt to visit a bar or restaurant if it were smoke free.
Roberts said the idea was initiated after the Tobacco Free
Mountaineers received grant money to promote a smoke-free campus.
“After we researched West Virginia University’s smoking policy,”
Roberts said, “We realized something had to be done.”
The University’s smoke policy dates back to July 1, 1990 and
according to the policy, “promotes a smoke-free environment.”
Roberts approached Miller at a Wellness Advisory Board meeting and lobbied for her support.
Miller explained the first thing to do was write a resolution for
SGA’s support – which passed Wednesday night – then move to work with
the President’s Office.
“This is the future,” Miller said. “And it’s happening whether smokers like it or not.”
More than 260 universities already have smoke free campuses, according to Roberts, and it’s a “rising trend.”
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine in Greenbrier County
is the only school in West Virginia among those with a ban.
Pearson said West Virginia should consider implementing something
like Pennsylvania – where all state funded schools are smoke free.
Currently, deans of the different colleges determine where students can smoke around that building.
“If we have the same limitations for the entire campus it wouldn’t be an issue,” Pearson said.
Pearson would also like to see Monongalia County go smoke free.
“A long term goal would be to have the county-wide smoking ban,”
Pearson said. “Last year the Board of Health tabled the idea, but we
think this resolution will encourage them to look at it again.”
Posted February 9, 2009 | This article appeared in the Daily Athenaeum on Thursday, February 5, 2009. Used by permission.
SGA Passes Smoking Ban Resolution
by Melanie Hoffman
The West Virginia University Student Government Association passed a
resolution in support of a campus-wide smoking ban during its meeting
Wednesday night.
Govs. Tyler Pearson and Brittany Miller submitted the resolution to
implement a campus-wide smoking ban. The full Board of Governors heard
the argument for the smoking ban and voted 13-0, with Gov. Jared Ramsey
abstaining from the vote.
Now, the resolution is on its way to Stewart Hall where Gov. Tyler
Pearson expects it to be reviewed by the President’s Office.
Chris Roberts, a first year eMBA student and president of Tobacco Free
Mountaineers lobbied for SGA’s support of the resolution.
“The current WVU smoking policy was passed July 1, 1990,” Roberts
said. “We feel it’s outdated based on the research done on secondhand
smoke since 1990.”
When Pearson and Miller created the resolution, they focused on the
outdated smoking policy and the effects of smoking and secondhand
smoking.
Tobacco Free Mountaineers also did a survey of 500 students. Results
showed that 68 percent of students moderately or strongly agree, 16
percent are neutral to it and 16 percent moderately or strongly
disagree with a campus-wide smoking ban.
Roberts added that 260 universities are smoke free. West Virginia
School of Osteopathic Medicine is the only school in West Virginia
among those with a ban.
“This is the way of the future, and it will eventually happen. We
may as well start being healthier now,” said Miller.
[The article continues about other issues, for the complete text visit www.da.wvu.edu]
Posted February 5, 2009
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, January 30, 2009. Used by permission.
BOH Receives Smoking Ban Update [Excerpted from Sewage Problem Plagues Crown]
by Tracy Eddy
Also Thursday, the BOH received an update on the status of
comprehensive smoking bans in the state’s other counties.
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative of
West Virginia, announced Doddridge County had passed a comprehensive
smoking ban that would prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and video
lottery establishments.
The Doddridge County Board of Health passed the ban Monday, Mickey said, and it would go into effect July 1.
Mickey also answered questions about Harrison County’s recent
suspension of its comprehensive smoking ban. The ban went into effect
Jan. 1 and was suspended 21 days later.
She said the Clarksburg-Harrison BOH is waiting to see if the state Legislature will tackle the issue.
Sam Chico III, BOH chairman, said he was pleased with the way the Mon BOH has handled its own comprehensive ban.
It tabled a vote on the issue on May.
“The board has taken this issue very seriously,” he said. “I’m glad we
haven’t yielded to pressures and passed something and then had to
rescind it.”
Mickey encouraged the BOH to continue to take its time to pass the ban.
“You’re taking your time on the issue and getting all your questions
answered,” she said. “That has been a successful approach in other
counties.”
John McGraw, spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video Lottery
Association, said he supported Harrison County and its decision to
suspend the band.
McGraw said he believes the state should get involved in the issue, and
that the state is ignoring its responsibilities by not doing so.
“Hopefully we’ll see some conclusion on this,” Chico said.
Posted February 5, 2009
| This article appeared in the Charleston Gazette on Wednesday, January 28, 2008. Used by permission.
Kanawha Agency Won't Undo Smoking Ban like Harrison
by Eric Eyre
CHARLESTON,
W.Va. - Harrison County suspended its smoking ban last week, less than
a month after it took effect, but don't expect that to happen in
Kanawha County, Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health President Brenda
Isaac said Tuesday.
Isaac said board members remain unanimous in their commitment to uphold
the 6-month-old regulations that expanded bans on smoking to bars,
gambling parlors and the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center in
Nitro.
"We have absolutely no intention of backing down because of any
political pressure," said Isaac, who is also lead nurse for Kanawha
County Schools.
"I'm very disappointed that other counties feel they can't do what's in
the best interest of the health of the people in their communities,"
she said.
Last week, the Harrison-Clarksburg Board of Health voted 4-1 to suspend
the county's 3-week-old smoking ban until June 1, 2010.
"It was a compromise between the yeas and the nays on the board," said
Robert Thomas, the health department's environmental director.
At a special Harrison County Commission meeting two weeks earlier, bar
and gambling parlor owners criticized the smoking ban, alleging they
were losing business to competitors who refused to comply with the
regulations.
The bars also were upset they had to compete against a Clarksburg bingo
hall, which is exempt from the smoking ban under state law.
In response, county commissioners sent a letter to the health board,
asking it to reconsider the smoking ban, Thomas said.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper vowed Tuesday to
continue to support the health department's expanded smoking ban. He
said commissioners wouldn't bow to pressure from bar owners.
"What you have [in Harrison County] is political shenanigans with
people appointing people to boards and then strong-arming them," Carper
said. "You can't have courthouse politics in health issues."
Harrison-Clarksburg's health board includes a county commissioner and
Clarksburg's city manager. By contrast, all six Kanawha-Charleston
health board members are appointed by the county commission and
Charleston City Council.
Kanawha bar and gambling parlor owners have repeatedly criticized
health board members about the smoking ban - at public hearings while
it was under consideration and at subsequent meetings after the
regulations took effect.
The health board has refused to give an inch.
"No one on the board has indicated they have any second thoughts,"
Isaac said. "We're charged with protecting the health of the people of
the county, and nothing should interfere with that."
Smoking ban critics have been noticeably absent at recent Kanawha-Charleston health board meetings.
Jean Angle, who owns the Pour House Sports Bar in North Charleston,
said the no-smoking rules continue to hurt businesses, but bar owners,
for the most part, have given up trying to persuade health board
members to change their minds.
"Everybody's still aggravated, but we're concentrating on keeping our
businesses going," Angle said. "We're just tired of all the BS."
Harrison health board members suspended their ban until June 2010,
hoping state lawmakers would tackle the smoking issue during
legislative sessions this year and next.
Carper said legislators should establish a statewide no-smoking law and enforce it.
"The Legislature should have done this instead of passing the buck to the [county] health boards," he said.
In past years, state lawmakers have been reluctant to impose a statewide smoking ban.
Smoking is still allowed on the second floor of the state Capitol and
both wings of the building. Some delegates and senators smoke in their
offices, although lighting up is prohibited in all other Kanawha County
office buildings.
Smoking ban proponents worry legislation will be introduced this year
to exempt some businesses, such as fraternal organizations and
racetrack casinos, from local smoking bans.
"The only thing legislators could do responsibly is to impose a law
making the whole state 100 percent smoke free," Isaac said.
"Unfortunately, I don't think that's going to happen. The tobacco
industry is a power lobbyist at the state and federal level."
Harrison County's health board isn't the first to back off a smoking ban.
In 2007, the Putnam County Board of Health rescinded its ban on smoking
at bars and video lottery parlors - eight months after the regulations
took effect. Smoking is still allowed in those businesses.
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for Smoke-Free West Virginia,
said it's rare for one county health board's decision to affect a
neighboring county.
Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com
Posted January 28, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Saturday, January 24, 2009. Used by permission.
Harrison Smoke Ban Suspended, Awaits State Legislation; Mon County’s in Limbo
by Tracy Eddy
Harrison County suspended its comprehensive smoking ban this week, less
than a month after it went into effect. And some local counties have
not taken any new steps toward passing a similar comprehensive ban.
There is still no word from the Monongalia County Board of Health on
when its comprehensive smoking ban will make its way back to the
meeting agenda.
A vote on the ban was tabled in May.
The Mon County Health Department released a draft of the agenda for the
BOH’s Jan. 29 meeting. The comprehensive smoking ban is not an item.
Shaunda Rauch, interim public health educator for the health
department, said a final draft of the agenda will be released the
morning of the meeting and until then, any of the board members could
choose to place another item on the agenda.
Rob Thomas, environmental health contact and supervising sanitarion for
the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department, said the coun- ty has gone
back to the regulation the BOH passed in 2001.
The regulation allows smoking in bars and video lottery establishments.
Restaurants are allowed to have smoking sections that take up 20
percent of their entire seating capacity.
Thomas said ever since the comprehensive ban was passed a few months
ago, the BOH had been receiving requests to suspend it for bar owners
and the owners of video lottery establishments.
The comprehensive ban was passed with a 3-2 vote. Only one board member
voted against suspending the comprehensive ban, he said.
Thomas said the board decided to revisit the ban in June 2010.
“That gives the Legislature two sessions to address it statewide,” he said.
Christina Mickey, the project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative
of West Virginia, said Harrison County’s suspension of the ban was “not
surprising, but very disappointing.
“It’s just as challenging to get the clean indoor air regulations
enacted or passed as it is maintaining them,” she said. “Clean indoor
air regulations are highly vulnerable to subjective data, such as
business owners claming economic destruction.”
Similiar suspensions have happened in other counties where the BOH
members were divided on the comprehensive ban, Mickey said, but those
suspensions are “very few and far between.”
The comprehensive ban can be revisited later, even though it was
suspended, she said, which is one of the positives of keeping local
regulations.
“Local regulations offer more protection than statewide laws,” she
said. “Their effectiveness, their ease of enactment, and the tobacco
industry has less influence locally than it does on the state level.”
Mickey said she doesn’t think Harrison’s action will ripple elsewhere.
“I don’t think it would have an impact on other counties, just like
when counties that pass the regulations have very little impact on
neighboring counties.”
Rauch said she gathers any information that pertains to the smoking
ban, such as press releases from the American Lung Association or
updates on the status of comprehensive bans in other counties.
Each board member is given a copy of that information to look over.
“I don’t know how much it would play into their decision,” she said.
“It would be up to them. But I try to make all that information
available to the board members so they have all the information they
need to make a good decision.”
The Preston County Board of Health has a clean indoor air regulation in place, but it is not a comprehensive ban.
Bruce Jenkins, the environmental health contact, said Preston’s BOH has
not talked about strengthening its regulation to prohibit smoking in
bars and video lottery establishments.
The current regulation has been in effect since 2002, he said, and it
allows smoking in places that make 50 percent of their profits from the
sale of alcohol.
Posted January 25, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, January 23, 2009. Used by permission.
W.Va. has 2nd highest smoking death rate; Kentucky tops the list
By the Associated Press
ATLANTA — West Virginia and Kentucky — where people traditionally smoke
the most — have the highest death rates from smoking, a new federal
study has found.
Rounding out the 10 states with the highest average annual smoking
death rates were Nevada, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas,
Alabama, Indiana and Missouri.
The lowest death rates were in Utah and Hawaii, according to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.
The smoking death rate in Kentucky was about 371 deaths out of every 100,000 adults age 35 and older.
That was nearly one-and-a-half times higher than the national median of
263 per 100,000. And it was nearly three times the rate for Utah, which
was 138 per 100,000.
The smoking death rates were calculated using death certificate data
from the years 2000 through 2004, focusing on lung cancer and 18 other
diseases caused by cigarette smoking.
The rates track pretty closely with the adult smoking rates in each
state. Kentucky and West Virginia had the highest smoking rates in 2004
as well.
But obesity and other problems that trigger heart disease are also
factors. Smoking, added to those problems, ‘‘is like gasoline on the
fire,’’ said Terry Pechacek, a CDC senior scientist for tobacco-related
issues.
Posted January 25, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, January 9, 2009. Used by permission.
Eateries Take Smoke-free Path; Decide to Prohibit Smoking Without County Ban in Place
by Tracy Eddy
A billboard outside the Texas Roadhouse in Star City proclaims the
restaurant is now a “100 percent smoke-free establishment.” And the
response has been positive, the manager said.
Other businesses in the area have been voluntarily smoke-free, even
though a countywide regulation has not been passed. For instance, the
Varsity Club, a sports pub on Willowdale Road, has been a smoke-free
establishment since it opened in June.
The Texas Roadhouse received a certificate of appreciation from the
Monongalia County Tobacco Prevention Partnership and the Smoke-Free Mon
County Coalition on Thursday to acknowledge the change, which has been
in effect since Jan. 1.
Robert Izydore, managing partner of the Texas Roadhouse, said the
restaurant wanted to start the new year off right.
“I thought it was time to protect my employees,” he said.
Izydore said the Texas Roadhouse has about 120 employees.
The decision was also made to boost the restaurant’s business, he said.
On the weekends, customers had to wait up to 1.5 hours to get a table
in the nonsmoking section, Izydore said.
The restaurant was losing customers because of the wait, he said, and
there were empty tables in the bar area because few people wanted to
sit in the smoking section.
The Texas Roadhouse can seat up to 300 customers, Izydore said. About
59 seats were in the smoking section, he said, including 15 seats
around the bar and 44 seats at tables in the area.
“So far it’s been great,” Izydore said. “We’ve had a few people
complain, but the majority of the people are happy about it. It seems
to be going in the direction we want.”
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said no
other businesses in the area have informed the coalition that they’ve
recently gone smoke free or are planning to do so.
“I think we’ll see more of it in 2009,” she said. “There are a few we
would like to see take that step, and maybe they will after seeing the
leadership Rob Izydore has shown with the Texas Roadhouse. They have a
long history of allowing smoking, and we appreciate their decision to
go smoke-free.”
Whitworth said the coalition has approached the owners of about six
area restaurants about voluntarily going smoke-free.
The coalition targets the area restaurants that mostly serve families,
she said. Members of the coalition visit those restaurants and talk to
the owners about the dangers of secondhand smoke and how they could
protect their employees.
In May, the Monongalia County Board of Health tabled a vote on a
comprehensive smoking ban that would prohibit smoking in all
restaurants, bars and video lottery establishments. Similar bans were
passed in 19 other counties in the state.
Whitworth said the Texas Roadhouse’s decision to go smokefree
emphasizes the area’s demand for smoke-free establishments.
“It shows the fact that the county is ready for this,” she said.
Varsity Club
Bonnie
Anderson, co-owner of the Varsity Club, said she and the other
co-owners are not smokers, and they decided to provide a place where
people could enjoy dinner or drinks without being bothered by cigarette
smoke.
“Many people have commented to us how they like it,” Anderson said. “Both smokers and non-smokers.”
She said no one has complained about smoking being prohibited inside
the establishment, at least to her knowledge, but some people might
choose not to go to the Varsity Club because they can’t smoke there.
“We don’t know about them,” Anderson said. “We do have people who come in and go outside to smoke.”
Anderson said that even though she co-owns a smoke-free establishment,
she does not believe the health department should pass a regulation
mandating that all bars and restaurants be smoke free.
“It should be the choice of the establishment,” she said. “And then the people can choose where they want to go.”
Posted January 9, 2009 | Texas Roadhouse Goes Smoke-Free
by Catherine Whitworth
Rob Izydore, managing partner of Texas Roadhouse, announced that
the family restaurant became smoke-free effective January 1,
2009.
Smoking was eliminated as both a business and a health
decision. "From the business end, I found that customers
had to wait for up to an hour and a half for a non-smoking table.
Very few were in the smoking section and bar during that time even on
busy nights," said Izydore. "And from a health standpoint for our
customers and employees, I feel in my heart it's just the right thing
to do."
The
Monongalia County Tobacco Prevention Partnership presented Texas
Roadhouse with a certificate of appreciation on Thursday for their
commitment to clean indoor air.
Izydore
has received overwhelmingly positive comments from the change.
Texas Roadhouse has been in operation in Morgantown for eleven years.
The restaurant is located at 3505 Monongahela Boulevard in Star
City. The change is a local decision and does not apply to
all franchise locations.
Smoke
Free Mon County is grateful to all local establishments that provide
smoke free dining and entertainment. When a popular establishment like
Texas Roadhouse has a long history of allowing smoking, it's a big step
to go smoke-free. We greatly appreciate Texas Roadhouse's
decision to provide a healthy environment for their employees and the
families who dine there.
Please
thank Texas Roadhouse and all of our local smoke free establishments
when you visit! Go to www.smokefreemonc.org to find out
about all of the smoke free dining and entertainment options in
Monongalia County.
Posted January 8, 2009
| Smoke-Free Mon County January Meeting Scheduled
Smoke Free Mon County will meet on Friday January 23 at 10:30 AM
in the John E. Jones Conference Center - Room-C. All coalition members and newcomers, are welcome to attend.
The John E Jones Conference Center is located right next to the
WVU Health Sciences Center cafeteria on the basement level.
If you are driving, stop at the guard booth for a parking pass to park
in the garage. Walk out of the back of the garage where you'll
see the emergency room. Turn left and follow the path (past the
smoking booth) to the side door to the building. The cafeteria
and conference area is immediately to your right. If you have not
visited the Health Sciences Center before, you can get directions and
maps here.
Posted January 8, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, January 2, 2009. Used by permission.
Harrison’s Smoke Ban in Effect; Mon’s Proposal Still in Limbo
By Tracy Eddy
The Harrison-Clarksburg Board of Health passed a comprehensive smoking
ban that went into effect Thursday, making the county the 19th in the
state to pass such a ban. The ban prohibits smoking at all restaurants,
bars and video lottery establishments.
A
similar ban proposed in Monongalia County is in limbo. Robert Thomas,
the Harrison-Clarksburg Health Department’s environment health contact
and supervising sanitarian, said the BOH passed the ban two months ago
with a 3-2 vote.
The
county’s initial smoking ordinance was passed in 2001, Thomas said, but
“it was not a 100-percent ban, there were several exceptions.”
The inital ban did not include bars or video lottery establishments, he
said, and also allowed restaurants to have a smoking section that took
up 20 percent of the facility, as long as proper ventilation was in
place.
Thomas said after the initial ban was passed, people started to petition for a stronger one.
The Harrison-Clarksburg BOH had been “earnestly discussing” the ban for
the past 2 1/2 years, he said, and passed it after fielding public
comments and holding public hearings on the issue.
The health department will work to enforce the ban, Thomas said, and
the penalties are described in the smoking ordinance.
Violating the smoking ban is classified as a misdemeanor, Thomas said,
and the violator could face fines from $50-$500.
If individuals are found guilty of blocking the health department’s
enforcement of the ban, then there is a heavier fine, he said. Fines
for obstructing range from $200-$1,000.
Christina Mickey, the project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative
of West Virginia, said Doddridge County is poised to be the 20th county
to pass a comprehensive smoking ban.
The county’s health department is taking public comment on the issue,
she said, and the public comment period is expected to close in
January.
Mickey said Lincoln County was the first county to pass a comprehensive
smoking ban, in 2001. Tucker County was second, she said, and several
others followed suit.
The Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia’s main goal is to get 100
percent of the state’s population protected from secondhand smoke,
Mickey said. About 40 to 50 percent of the state’s population is
protected by comprehensive smoking bans that do not allow smoking in
workplaces, including restaurants, bars and video lottery
establishments, she said.
“It’s not about how many regulations are passed, it’s about what
percentage of the population is protected from secondhand smoke,” she
said.
The Monongalia County Board of Health has still not given any
indication when its comprehensive ban might make its way back on the
BOH’s agenda.
The BOH tabled a vote on the ban in May.
Shaunda Rauch, interim public health educator for the Monongalia County
Health Department, did not respond to The Dominion Post in time for
this report.
When The Dominion Post asked Rauch about the future of the smoking ban
in early December, the newspaper did not get any definite answers.
Rauch said then that the BOH meets again on Jan. 29, and the agenda for that meeting won’t be set until Jan. 22.
Mickey said the Mon County BOH should take whatever time it needs in order to pass the comprehensive smoking ban.
“We encourage them to put it on the agenda whenever they’re ready,” she
said. “There’s no immediate rush in revisiting the issue if they’re not
ready to protect the bar workers.”
Advocates of the comprehensive smoking ban will continue to attend the
BOH meetings, Mickey said, and continue to educate the public about the
dangers of secondhand smoke.
“It’s not a county the advocates are going to forget,” she said.
Posted January 2, 2009 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, December 7, 2008. Used by permission.
Smoking Ban's Future in Limbo; Board Quiet on When Issue Will be Revisited
by Tracy Eddy
What's next for Monongalia County's proposed smoking ban? The
Board of Health won't say, except to reaffirm it has been tabled.
On
Nov. 24, The Dominion Post asked Shaunda Rauch, the interim public
health educator for the Monongalia County Health Department, when the
BOH was planning to put the comprehensive smoking ban back on the
agenda.
The BOH tabled a vote on the ban in May.
Rauch is the media liaison for the BOH and employees of the health department.
The Dominion Post was in contact with her each weekday of the period
through Thursday, except for Nov. 27, the Thanksgiving holiday.
In e-mails, Rauch said she was waiting for a response from Sam Chico III, chairman of the BOH.
She released the following statement on behalf of the BOH Thursday:
"The Monongalia County Board of Health recognizes the community
interest in the clean indoor air initiative/smoking ban. As you have
noted the board has tabled the issue. However, the Board recognized
during the last Board meeting that the atmosphere surrounding the topic
was improving and was pleased with the way the public portion of the
meeting had gone."
Rauch said agendas for the BOH meetings are set a week before the
meeting date. The next BOH meeting is scheduled for Jan. 29, which
means the agenda will be set Jan. 22.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said the
coalition is encouraging the BOH to take its time with the ban.
"We'd rather see a good quality regulation that protects everyone than
a regulation that's riddled with exemptions," she said.
Whitworth said Smoke-Free Mon County recently set up a new link on its
Web site — smokefreemonc.org — titled "Whatever Happened to the Smoking
Ban?"
According to the Web site, Smoke-Free Mon County is not pushing the BOH
for an immediate vote on the proposed ban any more because "at this
time, we do not believe we have the votes needed on the Board of Health
to pass an exemption-free smoking ban that will protect everyone."
The link asks visitors to encourage local businesses to voluntarily go
smoke-free while the BOH deliberates on the ban.
"Remind them that the vast majority of our adult population does not
smoke and that they could be missing a great opportunity to build a
stronger customer base."
The site also encourages its visitors to support smoke-free
establishments and continue to educate others about the positives of a
smoking ban.
Whitworth said regardless of all the work the coalition does to show
its support of a comprehensive smoking ban, only the BOH has the
authority to pass it.
"If they feel the climate is different and they are ready to act and
pass a comprehensive smoking ban, we applaud them," she said. "We would
love that."
Posted December 7, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, November 14, 2008. Used by permission.
Students Push for Smoke-free Businesses; Present Tests of Air Quality to Health Board
by Tracy Eddy
Some WVU students hope that a recent air quality test they
conducted at four establishments will help put pressure on Morgantown
businesses to go smoke-free.
The test results were released to the Monongalia County Board of Health at its Wednesday meeting.
Chris Roberts, a graduate student at WVU and president of the
Tobacco-Free Mountaineers, conducted the study with the help of a
friend on Nov. 8, after the WVUCincinnati football game.
Roberts went to four establishments: Rain on High Street, Big Times on
High Street, Keglers on Chestnut Ridge Road and Suburban Lanes on
Chestnut Ridge Road.
He used a personal aerosol monitor and tested the air without the
owners’ knowledge, he said. Roberts termed the air quality at Keglers
and Suburban Lanes “moderate,” and the air at the other two places
“very unhealthy,” according to the outdoor air quality index.
“A lot of the establishments students work at and visit are extremely
unhealthy, as far as air quality,” he said. “And students are unaware
of the the health effects.”
Roberts said he is planning to do more studies on area establishments, but doesn’t know when.
“Our plan is to do some more of these and hopefully get the people in
the Morgantown area to put some more pressure on establishments to
voluntarily go smoke-free,” he said.
For the tests, the monitor was hooked to his belt, and a 3-foot tube
was attached to the monitor to draw in the air.
Roberts said he pulled the tube around his waist and up his back,
positioning the end of it outside of the collar of his sweatshirt.
The tube of the personal aerosol monitor was visible near the collar of
Roberts’ sweatshirt, he said, and no one asked him about it. If he was
asked about it, he would have been willing to explain its purpose, he
said.
The air quality index is used to measure the level of pollution in the
air outdoors, Roberts said. There is no air-quality index specifically
for indoor air, he said, so the students measured the air quality
inside the bars with the outdoor air quality index.
According to the index, a value of 50 represents good air quality and a
value more than 300 represents hazardous air quality. Areas in between
are moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy and very
unhealthy. A value of 100 is the national air-quality level set by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Roberts said the average air quality in Keglers and Suburban Lanes was
moderate, with readings at Keglers averaging about 82.60 and readings
at Suburban Lanes averaging about 33.92.
John McGraw, general manager of Suburban Lanes, said he thought the numbers were good.
“That says to me that we can regulate the air here,” he said. “We can
achieve clean air through freshair ventilation. We work really hard
here. We try to offer both a smoking lounge and a nonsmoking lounge.”
McGraw said the students should have done an air quality test inside Keglers II, the smoke-free bar.
Big Times rated “very unhealthy” with an average reading of 221.67, Roberts said.
Rain, which Roberts said is advertised as a smoke-free establishment,
rated “very unhealthy” with an average reading of 280.01.
The Dominion Post was unable to reach representatives for Rain and Big Times for comment.
Roberts warned that some of the numbers may be skewed, because he
turned the monitor on before he went into each establishment, so the
first few minutes of each reading were of air quality outside the bars.
Christina Mickey, the project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative
of West Virginia, said bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues
are the places where the students, and other members of the community,
work and socialize.
“It will make a huge impact on public health when we make these establishments smoke-free,” she said.
WVU freshman Loren Bane said she would like to see WVU become a
smoke-free campus, because smokers congregate outside classroom
buildings for their smoke breaks, and she can’t exit those buildings
without “inhaling a puff of smoke.
“Smokers are infringing on our rights to breathe clean,
non-carcinogenic, air,” she said. “I’m asking WVU officials,
professors, students, community members and this board to stand up for
the rights of non-smokers.”
Board Chairman Sam Chico III said he was pleased with the way the
public portion of the meeting went, and was particularly impressed with
the words of the WVU students.
“The tone of the discussion is becoming dignified enough that I’m willing to participate again,” he said.
WBOY also covered the story at http://wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=46944
Posted November 15, 2008
| This article appeared in the Daily Athenaeum on Thursday, November 13, 2008. Used by permission.
Students' Study Reveals Poor Air Quality in Morgantown Bars
by Jessica Hammond
Some student hot spots may be more hazardous than meets the eye.
The
Tobacco Free Mountaineers conducted a study to test the quality of air
in four local establishments. Chris Roberts, president of the
group, wore a device to read the quality of the air in the
establishments.
Rain, a local dance club, has a sticker on its front door stating
that it is a smoke-free facility. But Roberts said Rain had
extremely hazardous air. The air sample from Rain rated at an
average of 280.01 micrograms, which is a very unhealthy level.
Big Tymes, a bar in downtown Morgantown, also had an extremely
high reading at 1,838 micrograms. The hazardous range is 301 to 500
micrograms.
Kegler’s Sports Bar and Suburban Lanes both were in the average
ranges. But Roberts said there were experimental errors that could have
skewed the results. Because it was late at night after a football game,
there were only 60 people in the bowling alley.
Roberts also turned the machine on and off while he was outside
of each establishment, and the outside air was a different quality than
the air inside each building – which could have impacted the readings.
The low number of smokers versus the very high ratings of smoke
could partially be due to ventilation problems or smoking that had
occurred inside earlier.
In Big Tymes, which had the poorest air quality, there were only 98 people there and about 14 smoked.
Roberts wore a tube that came up through his shirt to capture the
air samples while the software sat safely on his belt. The
samples were compared to an outdoor air sample chart that categorized
the levels by the quality of air.
Senior member of Tobacco Free Mountaineers Brandon Beacom went
with Roberts on the clean air adventure. Beacom said he wasn’t
surprised at the high and dangerous results in the local
establishments. He said Roberts wore the device and hid it well. They
did not get any strange looks during the night.
“I think students should be informed about smoking and air
quality. A lot of people just ignore it,” Beacom said. He also
said it is important to show students the facts so they can make
educated choices. “We need to inform students that the decisions
they make affect not just themselves but others around them as well,”
he said.
Today at 9 a.m., Roberts plans to face the Monongalia County
Board of Health and reveal these results. He is going to propose
that all indoor facilities, including bars and restaurants, should be
smoke-free for the health of everyone who attends and works in these
facilities.
He also said if Monongalia County or West Virginia University go “smoke-free,” the other one will follow suit. He added that WVU’s tobacco policy has not been changed since 1990, and it is in need of updates.
Posted November 15, 2008 | This article appeared in the Charleston Gazette on Monday, October 13, 2008. Used by permission.
Bars, Clubs Recovering from County Smoking Ban
by Phil Kabler
As predicted here weeks ago, bars and clubs around Kanawha
County are continuing to regain business lost when the countywide
public smoking ban was imposed July 1, based on the only available
objective figures to track their business.
Total limited video lottery revenues for the county in September
were $3,024,692, up $111,149, or about 4 percent from August, according
to the Lottery Commission's monthly report.
In fact, the limited video lottery in bars and clubs in
smoke-free Kanawha County outperformed their brethren in the rest of
the state.
Statewide, limited video lottery revenue dropped for the month of
September, down to $32,901,342 from $34,385,297 in August.
That's a drop of 4.5 percent statewide, which seems consistent
with the downturn in consumer and recreational spending nationally.
The top-earning establishment in the county, Mimi's of Nitro, had
$97,548 in revenue for September, up 10 percent from $88,516 in August
- and up 25 percent from $77,832 in June, the last month smoking was
permissible.
And this is for an establishment near the Putnam County line, and
part of a chain where the operator was recently quoted as estimating
that 80 percent of the clientele were smokers.
So, lo and behold, Kanawha County seems to be following the
pattern of every other jurisdiction in the United States that has
prohibited smoking in public places: After an initial decline, business
rebounds.
Meanwhile, limited video revenues for Putnam County bars and
clubs dropped from $552,330 in August to $525,243 in September. Could
it be that non-smoking slots players in Putnam County are bypassing
their local establishments to take advantage of the smoke-free environs
in Kanawha County?
Posted October 30, 2008
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, September 28, 2008. Used by permission.
Smoke-Free Initiative moves from Mon County; Official: Marion County ‘very supportive’ of act
by Tracy Eddy
The
Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia program is moving to the Marion
County Health Department after being housed in the Monongalia County
Health Department for eight years.
The move will take place on Wednesday.
Bruce Adkins, the director of the Division of Tobacco Prevention, said
the DTP decided to move the program to Marion County because the Marion
County Board of Health is “very supportive of the Smoke-Free Initiative
Act of West Virginia.”
The Marion County BOH is enforcing a comprehensive public smoking ban that went into effect in early August.
The Mon County BOH has been considering a similar ban for nearly a
year. County residents for and against a proposed ban prodded the board
Thursday to put the issue back on its agenda and make a decision, but
board members did not indicate they have any plans to do so.
Adkins said Christina Mickey, the project coordinator for the
Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia, will continue to be the
program’s project coordinator and will move to an office in the Marion
County Health Department.
“In our eyes, it’s a really good thing, because we’ve retained our coordinator,” Adkins said.
Mickey said she has been project coordinator since it began in December 2000.
“I’m excited and happy to be able to continue with this,” she said.
There will be no changes to the program, aside from the phone number and the physical address, Mickey said.
She’s been packing up boxes — some full of “Smoke-Free” stickers or
other signage — and shipping them to her new office.
The Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia grant is about $150,000 per
year, Mickey said, and the majority of the money is used to help
counties create and enforce smoking regulations.
Mickey’s salary is also paid by the grant money, she said. She makes about $42,000 a year.
The Marion County Health Department will receive about $10,000 to
$14,000 of the grant money to house the program, Mickey said.
The money will cover indirect costs, she said, such as phone lines and office space rental.
A spokeswoman for the Marion County Health Department said Lloyd White,
the health department’s administrator, was out of the office until
Monday and could not comment until then.
The state did not award the grant to the Mon County Health Department
for another full year in July, but did extend last year’s grant for
three months — which end on Tuesday.
Shelley Martin, public health educator for the Monongalia County Health
Department, did not respond to The Dominion Post in time for this
report.
Mickey said she travels for a majority of the work she does and she
will still spend a lot of time in Mon County, working to protect
residents and hospitality workers from secondhand smoke.
Adkins said the Marion and Monongalia county health departments have
worked very well together, and he expects the transition to be
“seamless.”
Posted September 29, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, September 26, 2008. Used by permission.
Residents Prod BOH on Smoking Ban; Newest Member Hears Both Sides at First Meeting
by Tracy Eddy
The proposed countywide smoking ban was the hot topic at the
Monongalia County Board of Health meeting Thursday, even though it
wasn’t an agenda item.
Mon County residents spoke in favor and in opposition to the ban during
the meeting’s public comment portion, and Chairman Sam Chico III took
time to counter some of the talk.
Robert Wheeler, the newest BOH member, said he wasn’t surprised people
used the public portion of the meeting to voice their opinions on the
ban.
Wheeler, the president of Industrial Environmental Health Consultants
Ltd. of Morgantown, was sworn into his position on the board in early
September. Thursday was his first meeting with the board, but he said
several people had already called him and sent him e-mails or letters
about their positions on smoking.
“Everyone has opinions and everyone tries to educate you from their
point of view,” Wheeler said. “And you make your own judgments.”
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, encouraged the BOH to put the ban back on the agenda.
“The next time you meet in November, this will have been in your hands
for a year,” Whitworth said. “You’ve had the opportunity to pass this
and you still do. The majority of residents in this county — 80 percent
nonsmokers — really want to see action on this.”
Chico said he doesn’t typically respond to public comments, but he wanted to respond to Whitworth’s.
He said he feels like he is driving a vehicle that needs some repairs,
and Whitworth’s “pit crew” keeps coming at him with a “blow torch and a
sledgehammer.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you were trying to fix the car with those tools, but you’re using the tools on me,” he said.
Chico said the proposed smoking ban is on the table, but he won’t
participate in discussions until the “pit crew” finds some new tools to
use.
Whitworth asked if she could ask Chico a clarifying question concerning his statements.
“Thank you. You’ve had your time,” he said.
John McGraw, spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video Lottery
Association, thanked the BOH for taking its time with the ban.
“This issue is not black-andwhite,” he said. “A lot of people seem to
think it is black-and-white, but there’s a lot of gray area. What is
black-and-white is that tobacco is a legal product for adults to
consume.”
Donna Tennant, vice chairwoman, said she had recently spent a week in
Washington, D.C., and, after visiting several businesses and
restaurants, was surprised to find that the whole city is smoke-free.
“It amazes me that a huge city like Washington, D.C., could pass such a
regulation and we have a difficult time passing it here in our smaller
Mon County,” she said.
Chico said that comparing Mon County to Washington, D.C., isn’t an “apples to apples economic comparison.”
“I think it would be different,” he said.
Christina Mickey, the project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative
of West Virginia, told the board about the progress of Kanawha County’s
countywide smoking ban, which took effect July 1.
“Things are going just as we planned,” she said.
Mickey said that some businesses are refusing to comply with the new
regulations, but the “vast majority” are following the rules.
The first four to six months are difficult for some communities, she said.
“Even in the first week, the bartenders, the barbacks and DJs, their
respiratory health has improved significantly,” Mickey said. “We
encourage you to continue moving forward to protect all our hospitality
workers and, as always, we’re a resource for you.”
In other business:
Board members voted to reschedule the November meeting for Nov. 13. The
BOH meets on the last Thursday of every other month and the last
Thursday in November is Thanksgiving.
August Lucci was appointed to serve on the health department’s audit
committee. Chico requested that someone make a motion to appoint Lucci
because he is already the board’s financial chair. Board member Bob
Bell made the motion and Tennant seconded it.
Posted September 26, 2008 | The Monongalia County Board of Health will meet Thursday, September 25 at 9:00AM
in the training center at Monongalia County Health Department. It will be the first meeting
attended by new BOH member, Robert Wheeler. We do not know if the proposed
smoking ban will be addressed by the Board at this meeting. However, a persistent
and vocal presence by supporters is always needed so that the Board understands
that the demand for smoke free air is not going away. Please attend and sign
up to speak during the public comment segment of the meeting. Ask the board to
end the delays and pass a smoke free regulation that covers all public places
and workplaces in our county.
Posted September 16, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, September 5, 2008. Used by permission.
Group: Poor Health Shortens Residents’ Lives
by the Associated Press
CHARLESTON — West Virginians face shorter lives than people elsewhere
in the country because of persistent health problems, particularly
women in the southern counties whose life expectancies are among the
lowest nationwide.
In a news conference Thursday, West Virginians for Affordable Health
Care warned that these and other findings in a new report mean the
state has to move to combat obesity, tobacco use, poor nutrition and
other scourges if today’s young residents are to live longer than their
parents.
‘‘This promise that we would live longer than our parents, and that our
kids would live longer than us is in jeopardy,’’ said Perry Bryant, the
group’s executive director.
The health care advocacy group based its report on data from more than
3,100 counties across the country released in April by Harvard
University researchers.
According to the data, only four West Virginia counties — Pendleton,
Grant, Tucker and Monongalia — have life expectancy rates above the
national median of 76.5 years, a number calculated by West Virginians
for Affordable Health Care from the data.
The Harvard researchers gave women nationally an average life expectancy of 79.6 years, and 74.1 for men.
Based on those numbers, the picture is grim for West Virginia, and in
the southern counties most of all. The average life expectancy for men
and women in McDowell County is 70.4 years, meaning only 13 counties of
3,141 have lower rates.
For women, it’s worse. Women in that county live an average of 73.5
years, making it the 10th lowest nationally. Two other counties — Mingo
and Logan — were among the 20 worst for women’s life expectancy.
The data has a significant drawback, though, in that it measures life
expectancy from 1961 to 1999, the last year for which good information
is available.
Partially filling in those gaps are data from the state Department of
Health and Human Resources, which track life expectancy by county
through 2006.
Those numbers show life expectancy is actually declining in some parts
of West Virginia, particularly the southern counties of Boone, Logan,
McDowell, Mingo and Wyoming. In Boone and Wyoming counties, the average
life expectancy dropped by more than three years between 1999 and 2006.
The group wants the state and county governments to reduce tobacco use
by raising cigarette taxes and enacting comprehensive indoor smoking
bans; to completely eliminate sugary soft drinks from public schools;
to give tax breaks to grocers who sell fresh fruits and vegetables; and
to invest in pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, among other
recommendations.
Posted September 5, 2008
| Full Smoking Ban Passes in Harrison County
On
August 20 2008, the Harrison County Board of Health passed a
comprehensive smoking ban that applies to all public places, including
bars and video lottery rooms. This was not a sudden or easy
decision by the BOH to do the right thing but the result of years
of steadfast effort by Harrison County's health advocates.
Regional
Tobacco Prevention Coordinator, Beverly Keener, shared the following
observations on the action in Harrison County. "The
Harrison County group began educational presentations on secondhand
smoke in 2002. In 2005, they launched an intensive campaign of
petitions, letters to the editor, consistent attendance and advocacy at
board of health meetings, two public comment periods, and a strong
presence by supporters. Despite setbacks they encountered, this
group resolved not to give up until the job was done no matter how long
it took. Without this effort we would not have seen this
momentous public health accomplishment in Harrison County."
Smoke
Free Mon County is grateful to these dedicated Harrison County
advocates for staying the course. Your efforts inspire us maintain our
energy and focus here in Monongalia County. We will rise to meet
our challenges, for as long as it takes. Ultimately we will win
smoke free air for all!
Posted August 26, 2008
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Monday, August 25, 2008. Used by permission.
Wheeler: No position yet on smoking ban; New BOH member says he’s ‘looking forward’ to serving Mon County
by Tracy Eddy; the Associated Press contributing
Robert Wheeler, who was appointed to the Monongalia County Board of
Health earlier this week, said the appointment caught him by surprise.
“A lot of very competent people applied,” Wheeler said. “And I feel honored that someone would select me.”
Wheeler said he doesn’t have a position on the proposed countywide smoking ban.
“I have to listen to all sides of the argument before I can take a position,” he said.
The list of West Virginia counties where smoking is no longer allowed in bars and gambling parlors is growing.
On Wednesday, Harrison County became the 20th county to ban smoking in
bars and gambling parlors. The prohibition is part of an expanded clean
indoor air regulation approved by the Harrison-Clarksburg Board of
Health.
The revised regulation takes effect Jan. 1, 2009.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chair of Smoke Free Mon County, said she was
very encouraged by the action the Harrison County BOH took in approving
the smoking ban.
“We think its wonderful for the citizens of Harrison County,” Whitworth
said. “We applaud the Harrison County Board of Health for performing
their duties and protecting the public.”
Whitworth said Smoke Free Mon County is ready for the BOH to pass an
expanded clean indoor air regulation of its own to protect its
residents.
Chico said the Mon County BOH would address the proposed smoking ban again “when the time comes.”
“It’s taking its course right now,” Chico said.
Wheeler’s resume
Wheeler is the president of Industrial Environmental Health Consultants LTD, of Morgantown.
He received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in civil engineering from
WVU and a master’s in public health from the Harvard School of Public
Health. He is a retired U.S. Public Health officer, having served 21
years of active duty with the U.S. Army and the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
He said he thinks the work and traveling he’s done over the years could
be beneficial to the county health department.
“I like to think I’ve seen how other people deal with public health
issues,” Wheeler said. “The background I’ve gained through all the
things I’ve done and all the places I’ve traveled to, I could bring
that to Mon County.”
Sam Chico III, chairman of the BOH, said he was looking forward to working with Wheeler.
“The resume of Mr. Wheeler is ideal for the Board of Health,” Chico
said. “His education and experience that he will bring to the table is
very exciting for us here at the health department and on the Board of
Health.”
After Wheeler is sworn in, he will be given a tour of the health
department and a rundown of the programs it offers, he said.
“I want to see what people are doing, and if I can help make things
better, I will,” Wheeler said. “I’m looking forward to having the
opportunity to serve the citizens of Mon County.”
Posted August 26, 2008 | Smoke Free Mon County Marks a Full Year of Smoke-free Advocacy
This
month marks a full year of our coalition's advocacy for smoke free air
with the Monongalia County Board of Health. Unfortunately, July's
Board of Health meeting brought no surprises. Smoke Free Air was
not addressed at all except by members of the public during the comment
segment at the end of the meeting. We do not know if or when the
board will take up the issue again, but do not expect it to happen
quickly. As disappointing as their lack of action is, we believe
it is better to wait until the board of health is ready to do their job
and pass an effective smoking ban that protects everyone rather than
accept a compromised, weak regulation. Once a bad
regulation is passed, it would likely take years before the board would
consider enacting a better one. We will continue our work in
educating the public and encouraging our board of health to pass an
exemption free regulation that is fair and effective in protecting all
of our county's residents, workers, students, and visitors. While
this issue is tabled by the board of health, we will also explore other
ways of securing protection for the public from secondhand smoke.
Meanwhile, please encourage establishments that you frequent, or
would like to frequent, to provide a smoke free environment for their
customers and employees. And don't forget to check our website at
www.smokefreemonc.org for updates, media coverage and the latest
information on secondhand smoke.
We are grateful for your support and look forward to continuing our partnership to clear the air in Mon County.
Posted July 31, 2008 | This
is part of an article that appeared in the Dominion Post on Thursday,
July 31, 2008. Text by Tracy Eddy. Title added by
SmokeFreeMonC.org. Used by permission.
July BOH Meeting: No Action on Smoking Ban
The smoking ban issue was not on the agenda, but it was brought up during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative of
West Virginia, encouraged the BOH members to leave the current smoking
regulation as it is, rather than rush into a poorly put together
regulation.
“It’s better to have no regulation, than a regulation designed to
create little impact,” Mickey said. “Once a bad regulation is in place,
there are additional years before we can amend it.”
The Monongalia County Health Department’s current rule bans smoking in
public places, except in designated areas. It also limits, but doesn’t
outright ban, smoking in work places, according to the health
department’s Web site, monchd.org.
Catherine Whitworth, cochairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, also asked
the BOH to leave the current regulation unchanged.
“Take your time to get it right and not to make a mistake to create a
regulation that is simple and fair,” Whitworth said.
Bell, who’s also a member of the BOH, thanked Mickey and Whitworth for their comments.
“There has been an adversity between the Board of Health and the
Smoke-Free Initiative that needed to be softened,” Bell said. “This was
a perfect way to do that.”
Posted July 31, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, June 27, 2008. Used by permission.
BOH Ethics Complaint Dismissed; Sate: There’s No Conflict for Vote on Smoking Ban
by Cassie Shaner
The West Virginia Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint filed
against three members of the Monongalia County Board of Health alleging
a conflict of interest on a proposed countywide smoking ban.
The ethics commission’s Probable Cause Review Board met Wednesday to
consider complaints that had been received during the past month.
Members of the Smoke-Free Mon County coalition, the organization that
filed the complaint, received word of the board’s decision by letter
Thursday.
An attached dismissal order says the coalition’s claims “do not
constitute a material violation of law upon which the the Ethics
Commission could properly act.”
The letter, written by Ethics Commission Executive Director Lewis
Brewer, listed the coalition’s claims against each board member and
explained why each is not a violation of the state’s Ethics Act.
The coalition contended that Sam Chico III, who owns and operates a
chain of convenience stores, and August Lucci, the uncle and employee
of one of the smoking ban’s main opponents, had business interests that
could affect their vote on the proposed regulation.
But Brewer indicates that public officials are permitted to vote on
matters that affect more than five businesses in an area.
“As there are five or more businesses in Monongalia [County] which will
be affected by the smoking ban, the Review Board found these
allegations failed to state a claim,” Brewer said in the letter.
The coalition noted that Bob Bell had received campaign contributions
from Chico and Steve Lorenze Jr. — Lucci’s nephew and a coowner of
Suburban Lanes and Kegler’s sports bar — but Brewer said campaign
donations alone do not bar an official from voting on an issue.
“If a campaign contributor were to be affected individually as opposed
to being a member of a class, then we may recommend the public official
not vote,” Brewer said. “How- ever, even in that situation, the Ethics
Act does not expressly prohibit the casting of a vote.”
The coalition also claimed that Chico failed to adhere to the board’s
bylaws when he did not call for a vote on the conflicts of interest
after they were presented at a public meeting. Brewer, however, said
that “failure to comply with the board’s bylaws does not constitute a
violation of the Ethics Act.”
Chico — who prefers to be contacted through Shelley Martin, public
health educator for the Monongalia County Health Department — did not
return a call to The Dominion Post for comment Thursday.
On Tuesday, Martin said Chico would not comment on when the BOH planned
to take up the smoking ban for consideration again.
“Sam said every board member wishes to pass a stronger clean indoor air
regulation,” Martin said. “As soon as conditions permit that, it should
occur.”
Bell also did not return a call to The Dominion Post for comment Thursday.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon County, said she
was relieved by the decision, as it clears the way for BOH members to
make a decision on the proposal. Chico tabled the measure last month,
saying the ethics complaint and other tactics employed by those
interested in the issue — though he refused to say who — had made it
impossible for the board to make a decision.
In light of the dismissal, Whitworth said she hopes the board will call
a special meeting on the matter before a new member is appointed to the
board.
Board member and smoking ban supporter Dorcas Davis’ term expires
Monday. Though she asked to be reappointed to a third fiveyear term,
Kennedy and Commission President Bob Bell refused to second a motion
from Commissioner John Pyles to reappoint Davis at a meeting earlier
this month.
“If they appoint a new member, it may take some time for them to get up
to speed on smokefree issues,” Whitworth said. “I would hate for there
to be another delay.”
Board members
Though others have expressed interest, County Administrator Diane
DeMedici said three qualified candidates — Richard Meckstroth, Brian
Krolczyk and Irv Schuetzner — have filed formal letters of interest
with the Monongalia County Commission to fill Davis’ seat.
By law, no more than two of the county’s five board members can live in
the same magisterial district — Eastern, Central or Western — or have
the same occupation. No more than three can be of the same political
party.
Davis, a retired schoolteacher, resides in the Eastern District, and
she is a registered Republican. Her replacement must be a registered
Republican or Independent who lives in the Eastern or Western district.
Meckstroth, chair of the Department of Dental Practice and Rural Health
at WVU’s School of Dentistry, filed his letter of interest Wednesday.
He noted that he “can offer the Board of Health a combination of public
health principles along with an understanding of business issues,” but
he did not indicate his stance on the smoking issue.
Krolczyk, 42, has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from WVU and works
as a consultant for Lifepath LLC. In his letter, Krolczyk said he
chaired a committee to help make HEALTHSOUTH smoke-free.
“Our committee heard passionate testimony from all sides and considered
all the options while moving forward,” Krolczyk said. “We set up
educational treatment opportunities for smokers and leadership
development training for managers. It was a unique challenge.”
Schuetzner, director of transportation for Monongalia County Schools,
has said that he would like to see greater cooperation between the BOH
and the school district. In a letter published in The Dominion Post
earlier this year, he indicated that he does not support a proposed
countywide smoking ban.
Whitworth said her primary concern is that the commission has qualified
candidates to choose from to replace Davis.
“I think that anyone with experience in public health or public health
administration would be a candidate that would be beneficial to the
health department,” Whitworth said.
Kennedy has previously indicated his intent to restaff the board with
more business-minded individuals. With the exception of Schuetzner,
Kennedy said he plans to interview the candidates for the board before
making a decision.
“I know Irv well enough,” Kennedy said. “Why would you interview someone that you already know well?”
Commission President Bob Bell and Commissioner John Pyles said they
also plan to interview the candidates they don’t already know and make
a decision in the coming weeks. Earlier this week, Kennedy said he
expects to select a candidate by mid-July — before the board’s next
regularly scheduled meeting.
“We don’t need to [appoint a replacement] until right before the next
board meeting,” Kennedy said. “My thought would be that we’d do it in
mid-July or something.”
Editorial Comment from Smoke Free Mon County regarding this article:
The Ethics Commission did not issue a ruling on the truth of Smoke
Free Mon County's allegations or whether a conflict of interest
existed, but simply that the allegations did not meet the legal
standard to state a claim under the Ethics Act. The
Review Board also stated that failure to follow bylaws does not
constitute a violation of the Ethics Act and is a matter best addressed
by the prosecuting attorney.
We sincerely hope that the Board of Health will end the delays and now
move forward in passing a clean indoor air regulation that protects
everyone.
|
West Virginia Public Radio featured a piece on the Monongalia County smoking ban. Read or listern to it at www.wvpubcast.org
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Used by permission.
EDITORIAL
Healthy Ethics Should Matter; BOH Right to Table Action on Policy in Light of Complaints About Conflicts
This is a complicated message on a simple topic: Ethics do matter
in the debate over a smoke-free policy for Monongalia County. But that
doesn’t mean it’s all either right or wrong. Just witness the
Monongalia County Board of Health in its recent response to a proposal
to ban smoking in all public places, including bars and workplaces.
The
BOH was right to table the discussion on this initiative while the
state Ethics Commission investigates complaints that several members of
the board have a conflict of interest. The members of the BOH and its
decision cannot afford to be second-guessed or go back to the drawing
board on something that should have already been approved.
There’s a need for the state’s ethics panel to look into these alleged
conflicts. Though we are at odds with the formal complainants to the
Ethics Commission on the number of board members who have a conflict of
interest, this is a legitimate issue. If the board was to take action
on this proposal and it was later determined one, two or three of its
members have a conflict, anything they did would be undermined. We are
as disappointed as anyone else that this issue was put on hold again,
but it should not proceed with a cloud of suspicion hanging over it,
which would only taint a decision. The state Ethics Commission should
make every effort to expedite its investigation and decision, but at
the very same time, there should be no rush to judgment. What the BOH
has gotten wrong — from almost the outset of this debate — is that this
ban on smoking should have been approved from day one. There was no
need for a 60-day public comment period or poll, countless meetings,
alternative proposals, mindless worries about marginal concerns and, in
general, blowing smoke at a decision that is self evident. Perhaps if
it was a transit authority or the County Commission or some other
public body, we could almost understand the months of deliberation and
obfuscation. However, the Board of Health’s mandate is clearly to
promote, protect and care for the health of our community — not a
particular sector of the business community.
This issue is more than a decade old — California imposed a
statewide ban more than 12 years ago while this spring even the casinos
in Atlantic City, N.J., began enforcing such a ban.
Apparently, the BOH in Monongalia County takes no small comfort
in knowing that smoke-free policies exist in more than a dozen other
counties in West Virginia, a host of states, scores of cities and many
countries. None of them got it wrong. We urge the Ethics Commission to help the BOH get it right.
Posted June 3, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Used by permission.
Davis Not Reappointed to Health Board; BOH Member Strong Smoking Ban Supporter
by Eric Bowen
The Monongalia County Commission decided not to reappoint Dorcas Davis
to the Board of Health on Monday, despite her request to continue
serving on the board.
Commissioner John Pyles made a motion to reappoint Davis, but it died
because neither of the other two commissioners seconded it.
Commissioner Asel Kennedy said that Davis has served on the board for
10 years, and he would like to see new people serving. He said that he
is continuing with a plan to re-staff the BOH to have more
businessminded people on the board.
“It was over a year ago that I sent a memo to Bob [Bell] that we need
to change the Board of Health members out,” Kennedy said. “I haven’t
changed my position on that.”
Davis has been one of the most outspoken BOH members in support of a
new smoking regulation that would ban smoking in most public places.
The BOH tabled the measure last week after the Smoke-Free Mon County
coalition filed a complaint with the West Virginia Ethics Commission,
alleging that three members of the county’s Board of Health have
conflicts of interest related to a proposed smoking ban.
Davis read a statement at the commission meeting Monday asking to
continue serving after her term expires June 30. She said she wanted to
finish the work on the smoking regulations and asked the commissioners
not to appoint someone else until the vote had been taken.
“I think in the interest of continuity on this important health issue,
it should be voted on by the current board members,” Davis said.
Kennedy said that his decision not to reappoint Davis had nothing to do
with the smoking regulation. He said that Davis had served for many
years and the issue had never been raised until this past year.
Kennedy also clarified statements he made about the role of the BOH
last week. He said that the state regulates so much of the public
health laws that the BOH only has jurisdiction over clean air, which
includes indoor smoking. He said the BOH should focus more on its role
of overseeing the financial aspects of the Health Department, which
requires people who are more business-minded.
Pyles said his motion to reappoint Davis wasn’t related to the smoking
ban either. He said people should be able to continue serving on county
boards if they have the experience and interest to do so.
“I think she’s fulfilled all of the reasons why people should serve,
and why they want to serve,” Pyles said. “I don’t know of anybody who
has done a better job on the Board of Health than she has.”
So far, only one person has applied to fill Davis’ seat on the Board of Health.
Irv Schuetzner, director of transportation for Monongalia County
Schools, applied about a month ago to serve on the board. He said
Monday that he would like to see greater cooperation between the BOH
and the school district.
Schuetzner sent a letter to The Dominion Post in April saying that the
Board of Health shouldn’t pass a smoking ban. He said in the letter
that if customers don’t want smoking they should let businesses know,
and smart business owners will realize there is an opportunity to serve
new customers.
Schuetzner said Monday that the issue of smoking has taken up a lot of
the BOH’s time, and it should get back to other issues. But he said
that he would consider all sides on the smoking issue if he were
appointed to the board.
“I wouldn’t honestly want to make a vote until I had heard all of the
information,” Schuetzner said. “I don’t make decisions unless I have
enough facts.”
Catherine Whitworth, co-chairwoman of the Smoke-Free Mon County
coalition, said she supports reappointing Davis to the BOH.
Whitworth said Davis has served well on the board and she should continue.
She said Davis has been in on all of the informational sessions about
the smoking issue, and it would be unfortunate to have to bring another
board member up to speed on the public health issues involved.
“We would like to see the reappointment at least postponed until the
current board can see all of this through,” Whitworth said. “To bring
someone new in to deal with this issue now would not be beneficial to
anybody.”
In other business Monday, the commission accepted several grant
contracts, including grants for the Safe and Drug Free Schools grant
program, court security and community participation. The commission
also made a motion to oppose closing a road between Monongalia County
and Dunkard Township, Pa.
Posted June 3, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, May 30, 2008. Used by permission.
Health Board Tables Smoking Ban Vote; Chair Says Ethics Complaint Hampers Ability to Decide
by Cassie Shaner
The Monongalia County Board of Health tabled a vote on a proposed
smoking ban Thursday, after Chairman Sam Chico III had a heated
exchange with members of Smoke-Free Mon County.
Chico asked why they chose to file an ethics complaint just days before
the board was to consider a proposed smoking ban.
Chico asked the board to table any discussion of the proposed
regulation at Thursday’s meeting. He said “the methodology that’s been
used for special interests to advance their own agenda” has made it
impossible for the board to make a decision.
“I wonder if that was a strategy or a true ethics interest. Did you
really want a result before the meeting, or did you want to confuse the
process? Just a question,” Chico said, addressing a comment from
Valerie Frey-McClung, co-chair of the Smoke-Free Mon County coalition.
The coalition filed a complaint with the West Virginia Ethics
Commission this week accusing Chico and board members Bob Bell and
August Lucci of conflicts of interest related to the proposed clean
indoorair regulation. The complaint also claims that the board violated
its bylaws in March by failing to vote on the alleged conflicts at a
public meeting.
Catherine Whitworth, co-chair of Smoke-Free Mon County, said the
coalition was following Chico’s advice when it filed the complaint.
“You did advise us to take it up with the ethics board. ...,” Whitworth
said. “We were simply following the advice you gave us.”
But Chico asked what took so long.
“It would have been nice to have it 60 days earlier, instead of just before the vote,” Chico said. “But nice try.”
Whitworth said the coalition needed time to collect evidence to support its claims.
Earlier in the meeting, Chico indicated that the coalition, by filing
its complaint, has defeated its main purpose — passing a more stringent
clean indoor air act.
“There’s not a board member on this board that I’m aware of that does
not want a more intense clean indoor air policy. ...,” Chico said. “I
do believe in my heart that this would already be done if it weren’t
for people’s overzealous personal interests. I’m amazed that we have
not passed it yet. I believe that people who have the best intentions
have subverted the whole process. That is the only reason why it has
not happened yet.”
Ban postponed
The
board voted 3-1 in favor of a motion from Bell to table any action or
discussion on the smoking ban. Chico, Bell and Lucci supported the
motion, while board member Donna Tennant voted against it.
Board member Dorcas Davis said she did not vote. She objected to
Chico’s suggestion that the board table the smoking ban, noting that
Chico promised the board would vote on the issue before her term
expires June 30.
“I hope to do that. ...,” Chico said. “I am truly sorry that so far I
have not been able to live up to my promise, but I know what your date
is and I am hoping to find a way to do it.”
The board’s next regular meeting is July 31. After Thursday’s meeting,
Chico said he is not certain when the board might take up the smoking
issue again or whether a special meeting will be scheduled before
Davis’ term ends.
Chico said something — though he would not say what — must change in
order for the board to make a proper decision.
“It’s going to take a different air for the whole process,” Chico said.
“The personal attacks on the outstanding board members that we have are
completely unwarranted. For people to improperly attack their integrity
to serve their own special interests is disturbing to me.”
Chico refused to identify the individuals, groups or circumstances that
have hindered the board’s decision-making process, but he said everyone
involved in the process needs “to act as appropriate, educated adults.”
He noted that he has “seen fraternity house votes that are more
dignified.”
“We have to bridge a gap,” Chico said. “It makes no sense to take a
vote. It’s like volunteering to jump off a plank into a tank of
alligators.”
Davis said the board’s decision to postpone a vote on the smoking ban
was “asinine.” By not passing a comprehensive smoking ban, she said the
board has failed to fulfill its mission to protect the public’s health.
“It’s kind of an oxymoron that we have that as our mission,” Davis said during the meeting.
Tennant did not return a call to The Dominion Post by press time to
explain why she voted against tabling the clean indoor-air regulation,
but she has previously spoken in favor of the proposed ban.
Bell and Lucci also did not return calls to The Dominion Post by press
time Thursday to explain their decision to table consideration of the
ban.
At the time of the vote, Bell said he wanted a ruling from the ethics
commission on the conflict-of-interest allegations before proceeeding.
Earlier this week, Bell said he contacted the ethics commission himself
to ask for a decision on whether a conflict of interest exists.
Lewis Brewer, executive director of the ethics commission, has said the
commission’s Probable Cause Review Board will meet on June 18 to
consider any complaints it has received. He said the commission is
prohibited from disclosing whether it has received a complaint or not.
Other business
The board also:
Approved a $4.197 million budget for the health department for fiscal year 2008-’09.
According to the budget document, the agency’s nutrition services
department represents both the greatest source of revenue and expense.
Nutrition services is expected to generate about $995,765 in revenue
and cost about $922,689 in projected expense.
Approved a strategic plan for the health department for fiscal years
2008-’10. The document lists objectives designed to accomplish several
goals for the agency in the coming years, including improving the
agency’s financial status and minimizing illness in the community.
Agreed to offer pre- and postvaccine testing for Hepatitis B on a
sliding fee scale. Each test would have to be purchased separately, and
the price ranges from $20.50 to $40.
The Monongalia County
Board of Health meets at 9 a.m. July 31, at the Monongalia County
Health Department Training Center, 453 Van Voorhis Road.
Posted May 30, 2008
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, May 30, 2008. Used by permission.
Davis Doubts She Has Support to Keep Health Board Seat; Term Ends June 30; One Person Applies For Consideration by Cassie Shaner
Monongalia County Board of Health member Dorcas Davis said Thursday she
is certain she will not be reappointed to the board when her term
expires June 30.
Davis is serving her second fiveyear term on the board. Though she has
submitted a letter to the Monongalia County Commission seeking another
term, she does not believe she has enough support on the commission to
be reappointed.
“I’m not one of [commission President Bob] Bell’s favorite people,”
Davis said. “I don’t vote his way. ... [Commissioner Asel] Kennedy
wouldn’t reappoint some of the other people that have asked to be
reappointed. I don’t know if he’ll reappoint me or not. I just don’t
think he will.”
Kennedy, who indicated his intent to restaff the health board last year
when he refused to reappoint former chairwoman Mary Jane Kerns, said he
will not support another term for Davis, either.
“Her term is up, and she had said earlier she didn’t want to serve and
then she changed her mind and said she did,” Kennedy said. “I won’t
reappoint her.”
Kennedy said he wants to appoint a business-minded person to the board,
as most of the board’s decisions deal with finances and meeting set
goals and objectives.
“It’s not a health thing, in my opinion. They don’t make health
decisions, other than one,” he said, describing the proposed smoking
ban as a health decision.
But Davis said it makes sense to have someone on the board with experience.
“It would be to their advantage to have someone appointed to the board
who doesn’t have to be reintroduced to everything, especially at this
critical time,” Davis said. “If they get a new member on the board,
it’s going to take them at least three or four months to get up to par
on what’s going on.”
Commissioner John Pyles agreed. He said he supports Davis’ reappointment.
“She’s been a faithful member and done a credible job,” Pyles said.
“She knows the ropes. You don’t want to put someone else in there
that’s going to take several months to learn how things work.”
Bell did not return calls to The Dominion Post by press time for comment on Davis’ reappointment.
By law, no more than two of the county’s five board members can live in
the same magisterial district — Eastern, Central or Western — or have
the same occupation. No more than three can be of the same political
party.
Davis, a retired schoolteacher, resides in the Eastern District. She is a Republican.
The remaining board members are Donna Tennant, a Democrat and marketing
director for Sundale Nursing Home, Western District; Bell, a Democrat,
Central District; August Lucci, a Democrat and retired businessman,
Central District; and Sam Chico III, a Republican and business owner,
Eastern District.
Because there are already two representatives from the Central District
and three Democrats on the board, Davis’ replacement can live in either
the Eastern or Western district and must be a registered Republican.
Pyles said Irv Schuetzner, director of transportation for Monongalia
County Schools, has submitted a letter of interest for Davis’ seat.
According to the letter, Schuetzner, a Republican, resides in the
Eastern District.
Schuetzner, who said he submitted his letter a month or so ago, is
interested in serving on the board because of the health department’s
extensive involvement with the school system. He said he has been
involved in the community for more than 20 years and hopes to help
expand health department services.
“I talked to the school nurses and the superintendent, and they thought
if it opened up, it would be a good opportunity,” Schuetzner said.
Davis said she had no idea who might be appointed to the board in her
place, but she believes it will be someone who meets the approval of
Bell and Kennedy.
“It’ll be someone that they can control,” Davis said. “It’ll probably
be someone that will vote the way [Bell and Kennedy] want them to.”
Schuetzner said he knows Bell and Kennedy, but he was not asked by
either commissioner to seek a seat on the board. If he is selected to
the board, he said he intends to think things through and make
welleducated decisions.
“My feeling is everything should be looked at from a logical
perspective,” Schuetzner said. “You gather all the information, and you
make the best decision.”
Kennedy said he has no one in mind for Davis’ seat on the board, and he
expects to receive more letters of interest in the coming weeks. He
plans to interview any applicants he does not already know.
The Monongalia County Commission meets at 7 p.m. Monday, in
commission chambers, Monongalia County Courthouse, 243 High St. Anyone
interested in submitting a letter of interest for the Board of Health
can contact the commission office at 291-7257.
Posted May 30, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Used by permission.
Group Files Health Board Complaint; Asks State to Rule on Smoking Ban Conflict
by Cassie Shaner
The Smoke-Free Mon County Coalition has filed a complaint with the West
Virginia Ethics Commission, alleging that three members of the county’s
Board of Health have conflicts of interest related to a proposed
smoking ban.
The complaint also indicates that the board violated its bylaws when
its members failed to vote on publicly aired concerns about potential
conflicts raised at a meeting in March.
In a letter sent to Lewis Brewer, executive director of the ethics
commission, on Friday, the coalition asked the commission to
investigate board members Bob Bell, August Lucci and chairman Sam Chico
III and force them to abstain from participating in any further
discussions or votes on the proposed policy.
Brewer said Tuesday that the commission is prohibited from disclosing
whether a complaint has been received. The commission’s Probable Cause
Review Board will meet on June 18 to review any complaints and
determine whether “at its face value, the complaint states a violation
of the ethics act,” he said.
“They would direct an investigation, and they would monitor and oversee that investigation,” Brewer said.
The West Virginia Ethics Act, listed under W.Va. Code 6B-2-5, is a code
of conduct for elected and appointed public officials. It includes
guidelines for soliciting gifts, licensing proceedings and private
interests in public contracts, purchases and sales.
The coalition’s complaint indicates that Chico, who owns and operates a
chain of convenience stores, has a conflict of interest because of the
proposed smoking ban’s potential impact on business.
The coalition provides documentation that indicates Lucci is employed
by nephew Jerry Lorenze, a bar owner and vocal opponent of the
proposal, who paid postage for petitions submitted against the ban.
And Bell, also president of the Monongalia County Commission, has
received campaign contributions from Lorenze and Chico, according to
the complaint.
Chico and Lucci did not return calls to The Dominion Post by press time Tuesday for comment.
Bell said he contacted the ethics commission by e-mail this week and
asked its members to rule on whether he has a conflict of interest on
the proposed smoking ban. He said he indicated that the matter is
urgent and asked for a response by the time of the board’s meeting
Thursday, if possible.
“If there is [a conflict], I have no problem with recusing myself,”
Bell said, noting that if a conflict exists, it’s “very minimal.”
“How did I know nine years ago that I would be voting on something that would affect these people?” he said.
Consideration of a Clean Indoor Air proposal is listed on the agenda
for Thursday’s board meeting. Valerie-Frey McClung, co-chairwoman of
Smoke-Free Mon County, said the coalition had no intention of delaying
a vote on the matter by filing its complaint.
Even if Chico, Lucci and Bell are told to abstain Thursday, she said
the five-member board could still make a decision.
“A quorum would be present. They just wouldn’t be voting,” Frey-McClung
said. “If the other two members were in favor of the motion, I would
think it would pass.”
Frey-McClung said the board should make a decision at this week’s
meeting. She noted that, at the board’s March meeting, Chico said the
board had plenty of time to make a decision before board member Dorcas
Davis’ term expires.
“This is the last regularly scheduled meeting before her term expires
on June 30,” Frey-McClung said. “I would ask that the Board of Health
do the board’s work and protect the public health.”
Bylaw violation?
The board’s bylaws indicate that its members must vote to determine
whether a conflict of interest exists, but the coalition alleges that
the board failed to do so at a March meeting.
Article VIII of the board’s bylaws state that “a member of the public,
either in writing or orally, may declare that a Board or committee
member has a conflict of interest. When the conflict is contended, its
existence will be determined by a majority vote of the Board.”
Smoke-Free Mon County Co-Chairwoman Catherine Whitworth accused Lucci
and Chico of conflicts of interest during the public portion of the
board’s March meeting and asked them to recuse themselves from any vote
on the ban, but Chico dismissed her claim and addressed other matters.
“The board violated their bylaws by not recognizing that a conflict of
interest had been asserted,” Frey-McClung said Tuesday. “Their bylaws
are very specific about how to handle that.”
At the time, the coalition did not have the documentation to allege a
conflict of interest against Bell, but Frey-McClung said the board has
had ample time to address the potential conflicts with Chico and Lucci.
“I think it was pretty clear,” Frey-McClung said of the accusations.
“We gave the board plenty of time to address the conflict of interest
charge. They chose to ignore it. [Filing an ethics complaint] was not
what we wanted to do.”
Frey-McClung said the coalition will likely ask the board to address
the conflict of interest charges again Thursday.
“According to their bylaws, they have to take a vote to determine
whether a conflict of interest exists,” she said.
The Monongalia County Board of Health meets in regular session at 9
a.m. Thursday, at the Monongalia County Health Department Training
Center, 453 Van Voorhis Road.
Posted May 28, 2008 | Correction
printed May 28, 2008: Due to a reporter’s error, a Tuesday story
included incorrect information about a countywide smoking ban proposed
to the Board of Health by a representative of Smoke-Free Mon County.
The proposal does not include a specific restriction for smoking in
parks. A representative for the Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia,
a separate group, has asked BOPARC to prohibit the use of tobacco
products in public parks.
This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, May 27, 2008. Used by permission.
Group Seeks Tobacco-free Parks; BOPARC Rules Already Ban Other Drugs
by Casssie Shaner
Just one week before the Monongalia County Board of Health meets to
consider a proposed countywide smoking ban, BOPARC is being asked to
make Morgantown’s parks tobacco-free, too.
At a meeting of the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners on Thursday, Christina Mickey, project
coordinator
for the Smoke-Free Initiative of West Virginia, suggested the agency
alter its existing rules and regulations to include a provision that
would ban the use of any tobacco product on park property.
“That would include all types of tobacco, not just smoking,” Mickey
said. “Tobacco-free policies are a perfect fit with the other health
initiatives they already have in place.”
Executive Director Mark Wise said BOPARC already prohibits smoking in
its indoor facilities, but not in outdoor parks.
Section E of BOPARC’s rules and regulations includes provisions that
prohibit alcohol consumption, glue-sniffing and the use of narcotics,
opiates and hallucinogens on park property. Adding tobacco products to
that list would be a simple change, Mickey said.
“If they’re already monitoring alcohol abuse and other policies that
affect wellness, this fits right in,” she said.
Mickey said there is scientific evidence that warrants policies that
ban smoking and the use of tobacco products outdoors. Just because
park-goers cannot see the smoke, that doesn’t mean it’s not there, she
said.
“Tobacco smoke is unlike other pollutants,” Mickey said. “It’s
scientifically justifiable to ban it in outdoor public places. ... Even
outdoors, we show more pollution in areas where smokers gather than we
do for other types of pollution.”
Local boards of health can also implement rules that restrict smoking
in public parks, and a proposed countywide smoking ban presented to the
Board of Health by Catherine Whitworth, chairwoman of Smoke-Free Mon
County, includes restrictions for smoking in parks.
An alternative proposal presented by the Monongalia County Bar and
Video Lottery Association would restrict smoking to only designated
areas within public parks and at least 15 feet from the center of a
paved rail-trail, but Mickey said the rules would be easier for BOPARC
to enforce.
The rules “are better suited for entities like BOPARC,” Mickey said.
“They’ve already got the personnel there, and they can get the signage
in place.”
Mickey also presented BOPARC with a list of the potential benefits of
tobacco-free policies in parks. It notes that tobacco-free policies
help save money, among other things.
“These are good ways for parks to decrease litter and maintenance
costs,” Mickey said. “It’s a tremendous savings.”
Wise said BOPARC could easily provide additional signage in its parks
to increase awareness of the dangers of smoking, but exactly what
changes are made will be up to BOPARC’s board members to decide. He
said the matter will be listed on the agenda for BOPARC’s June meeting.
“I’m not sure where we’re going to go with it, but we’ll definitely look at that at our next meeting,” he said.
The Board of
Park and Recreation Commissioners meets in regular session at 5:30 p.m.
June 26, in the conference room of the Morgantown Public Safety Center,
on Spruce Street.
The Monongalia County
Board of Health meets in regular session at 9 a.m. Thursday, at the
Monongalia County Health Department Training Center, 453 Van Voorhis
Road.
Posted May 27, 2008
| This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, May 25, 2008. Used by permission.
Snuff Out Conflicts of Interest on BOH: Two members Should Not Vote on Smoke-free Policy Initiative
The Monongalia County Board of Health needs to stop blowing smoke.
On Thursday, the BOH will cast an up or down vote on a policy that
would prohibit smoking in public places and workplaces.
Though we are on the record in support of the smoke-free policy, we
have remained mum on the accusations and motions that some BOH members
have a potential conflict of interest.
But before we get ahead of ourselves, the smoke-free policy issue is
beyond debate. Because, if the BOH is charged with promoting and
protecting public health, there’s nothing to debate.
Secondhand smoke in public places is hazardous to the health of people
who frequent those places, but more importantly, to the people who work
there. Period.
Members of the organization lobbying for this smoke-free policy have
accused three of the five members of the BOH of having a conflict of
interest: Sam Chico, August Lucci and Bob Bell.
They made a motion before the BOH at its March session to disqualify
Chico and Lucci because of their positions in life. That motion was
dismissed.
Even though we had little trouble making up our mind about the issue of
whether or not this smokefree policy should be enacted, we are torn
about the assertions of a conflict of interest on the BOH.
However, after much debate, we have decided two members on the BOH do
have a potential conflict of interest on this issue: Lucci and Bell.
Although Chico owns businesses that sell cigarettes and tobacco
products, we cannot go along with the smoke-free advocates, who link a
potential decline in his profit margin to his vote for or against their
initiative. They cited one 1992 tobacco industry study that shows
smokers facing these bans smoke less and have a higher than average
quit rate.
That’s a far cry from evidence that a potential conflict of interest
exists. In all honesty, we seriously doubt this smoke-free policy will
have a marked effect on the minority of our county’s population that
continues to smoke.
However, with regard to Bell and Lucci, their connections — in Lucci’s
case overwhelming, and in Bell’s marginal — to perhaps the most vocal
opponent of the proposed smoking ban, cast a shadow on their ability to
remain objective on this issue.
And as a result, we call on Bell and Lucci to step aside on this
Thursday’s vote on the proposed ban on smoking in Monongalia County’s
public places.
Lucci is potentially influenced by his employer, who has helped lead
and finance the campaign to defeat this anti-smoking policy, and who is
also his uncle.
Meanwhile, County Commissioner Bell has been the recipient of a $1,000
contribution to his campaign by the same smoke-free opponent.
In Bell’s case, we admit the perception of a conflict of interest is
limited. It’s still in this community’s interest and Bell’s to step
aside from this vote so no perception of impropriety exists.
If Bell and Lucci decide to step aside, as we encourage them to, that
should go a long way toward clearing the air on this issue.
Posted May 25, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, May 25, 2008. Used by permission.
Year-old Smoking Bans in 2 Counties Still Spark Debate on Economic Effect
by Cassie Shaner
If Ohio and Randolph counties are to provide any indication, the debate
about a proposed smoking ban in Monongalia County will rage on long
after the board of health votes on the matter.
Though both counties enacted comprehensive clean indoor-air regulations
more than a year ago, public health advocates and business owners still
disagree about whether the rules have affected business, and to what
degree.
Fraternal clubs in those communities said they’ve been hurt, but
business as a whole appears unaffected, officials said.
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for Smoke-Free West Virginia,
said the fundamental argument about protecting a community’s business
interests versus public health interests never goes away.
“It’s an argument that has been present ever since the very first
[regulation] was passed, in California in 1986,” she said.
Ohio and Randolph counties are two of the 18 counties in West Virginia
that have approved comprehensive clean indoor-air regulations. Marion
County passed the state’s most recent law, joining Braxton, Calhoun,
Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Ohio, Pleasants, Pocahontas, Randolph,
Ritchie, Roane, Summers, Tucker, Upshur, Wirt, Wood and Wyoming
counties in prohibiting smoking in nearly all public places and
workplaces.
Mickey defined comprehensive regulations as those that prohibit smoking
in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
The Monongalia County Board of Health is considering two proposals that
would alter the county’s clean indoor-air regulation. One, a
comprehensive law presented by Smoke-Free Mon County, in November,
lists 18 public spaces where smoking would be prohibited, including
restaurants and bars, which fall under the definition of a restaurant
in the proposal.
The other, presented by the Monongalia County Bar and Lottery
Association, in March, would ban smoking in many public and work
places, but not in bars or video lottery rooms. It would also permit
smoking in the “physically separated bar areas of restaurants, hotels
and other smoking facilities,” as long as ventilation systems are
installed.
To see how a comprehensive regulation might affect local businesses,
The Dominion Post contacted officials and business owners in Ohio and
Randolph counties to see how the smoking bans were done and what
economic impact the rules have had.
Though smaller than Monongalia County, Ohio and Randolph are the
counties most similar in population that have bans on smoking in bars
and restaurants. The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, the Mid-Ohio
Valley Health Department and the Marion County Health Department —
which serve populations closer in size to Mon County — have all enacted
comprehensive regulations, but the rules have yet to take effect.
Wheeling/Ohio County
The Wheeling-Ohio County Board of Health enacted its first clean
indoor-air regulation in 1996, as many other counties across the state
began adopting rules to limit smoking in public places, according to
Ohio County Health Department Administrator Howard Gamble. Rather than
amending the original regulation, the board then drafted a new law in
2005 that included “massive changes,” Gamble said.
The law bans smoking in bars, restaurants and most other public places.
Gambling facilities — including free-standing video lottery rooms and
areas devoted to placing bets, such as Wheeling Island’s gaming floor —
are exempt, as well as designated hotel and motel rooms, private
residences, personal care homes, retail tobacco stores, private
assembly rooms and bingo halls that serve more than 100 people.
At the time the regulation was being considered, the local newspaper
published dozens of letters for and against it, and board meetings were
packed, Gamble said.
“When it was discussed, you would have public attending, whether it was
bar owners, restaurant owners, people from the track,” Gamble said.
“They were there on a regular basis.”
Because of the public reaction and the potential economic impact, the
Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce did not support the ban, according to
President Terry Sterling.
“We felt that it was an infringement on business practices, and our
members were very vocal about it,” Sterling said. “Our position was
that our individual members should be able to decide whether they want
to be smoke-free or not.”
Sterling said he does not have hard numbers that indicate whether the
ban has hurt business in the area, but the chamber’s position has not
changed.
Wheeling City Council candidate Duane Ellis, also a trustee for The
Cave Club, said the ban has “crippled” his fraternal organization and
others in the area.
“Our beer sales have dropped 130 cases a month,” Ellis said. “We’re
really hurting. We have a lot of members. That’s the only reason we
still have money.”
If he is elected to council, Ellis hopes to restaff the Ohio County
Board of Health and have fraternal organizations exempted from the ban.
He claims that at least two fraternal organizations have closed as a
result of the ban, and others — including The Cave Club — have had to
cut back on community donations.
Before the ban passed, The Cave Club contributed about $15,000 a year
to local charities and other community groups.
“Now we’ve stopped,” Ellis said. “All of them have stopped. The valley’s really hurting because of this.”
Despite Ellis’ claims, Gamble said he has not seen an increase in the
number of businesses closing in the Wheeling area, and noted that the
health department is “issuing permits left and right, as far as new
businesses opening up.”
The majority of the new development in Ohio County has been in the Highlands area, near Cabela’s, he said.
“The major development in this area has been smoke-free. It’s etched in
glass,” Gamble said. “As far as impact, what we can see as far as the
new development is that it’s all smoke-free.”
Gamble said business owners still occasionally show up at board
meetings to protest the regulation, but the public as a whole seems
supportive of the smoking ban.
“The public, for the most part, has accepted the regulation and why it
was written, and that’s to protect the public’s health,” Gamble said.
Charlie Schlegle, owner of the Wheeling restaurant Ye Olde Alpha, said he supported the ban from day one.
“How can you logically argue against it?” Schlegle said. “You just can’t make the argument.”
Schlegle had experience with smoking bans when the regulation took
effect. The state of Maine did it when Schlegle lived in New Hampshire
and worked for a nearby restaurant chain.
“It’s easier for me to support it because I’ve been through it,”
Schlegle said. “I know that eventually it will even out. The businesses
will suffer when you first ban smoking, but long term, it will even
out.”
The ban has not affected Ye Olde Alpha at all, Schlegle said. Since he
bought the business, in 2005, Schlegle said, annual sales have
increased from less that $1 million to more than $2 million.
“It hasn’t hurt us,” Schlegle said. “A great deal of that has to do
with better food and better service, but it still hasn’t hurt us.”
Elkins/Randolph County
The Randolph County Board of Health’s regulation went into effect
Aug. 1. According to Warren Elmer, a sanitarian for the county health
department, the board decided to amend the county’s existing rule
because residents sent letters and petitions urging the board to
strengthen it.
“The public brought about this ban,” Elmer said. “The public started
calling us. The board of health didn’t just sit down one day and decide
to make the regulation stronger.”
The new law prohibits smoking in most public and work places, including
bars and restaurants. Like many regulations around the state, it
exempts designated hotel and motel rooms, private residences, select
personal care homes, retail tobacco stores, private assembly rooms and
bingo halls that serve more than 100 people.
Outdoor work places are also exempt.
Elmer said most business owners opposed to the ban came forward after
the law was passed. The board’s August meeting had to be held in a
larger room because of the public response for and against the ban, he
said.
“Most of the argument was over their rights as the operator of a bar,
not so much as a smoker, but as an operator,” Elmer said.
Roger Ware, commander of American Legion Post 29, in Elkins, said about
a dozen people attended one board meeting to protest the ban on behalf
of various businesses, but their concerns fell on deaf ears.
“We only went once,” Ware said. “From the information we gathered, it
didn’t make a difference. They didn’t really care.”
Ware said the smoking ban has dramatically affected raffle ticket sales
at several local fraternal organizations, including the American
Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Fraternal Order of Eagles.
Based on the drop in sales during the first four months, officials at
the American Legion — which generally contributes $40,000 or more to
local charities each year — projected they would be able to donate only
$28,000 this year.
“It seems like the nonprofit organizations are the ones that get
punished,” Ware said. “Money that we generally give back to the
community, as far as donations, has been greatly reduced.”
But Elmer and Ellen Spears, director of the Elkins-Randolph County
Chamber of Commerce, said most people seem to be happy with the ban.
Many of the early complaints came from bar owners, they said, but even
those have diminished.
“To a certain extent, they still complain,” Spears said. “There is the
attitude that, ‘Oh, you can’t tell me what to do on my property.’ That
still exists, but I think it’s the minority.”
Though it may have affected business initially, Spears said, many bar
owners have come up with inventive solutions to encourage smokers to
come back. Some establishments have built covered terraces and other
outdoor areas where smokers can go to light up.
“I don’t think anyone’s gone out of business as a result of the smoking
ban,” Spears said. “They’re coming up with creative ways to try and
appease the smokers.”
Elmer said the number of permits issued by the health department has
not increased or decreased since the ban, though existing businesses
have until June 30 to renew their permits.
“We lose some and we gain some anyway, but it’s all about the same,”
Elmer said. “I don’t think we’ve lost any more than we normally do.”
Don Smith, owner of Scotties of Elkins, said the new regulation has
helped his business. Smokers who used to loiter in the small restaurant
and purchase little food now come in solely to eat and then leave, he
said.
“I used to have to tell people to get up and make space for other
customers,” Smith said. “Now I don’t have that problem.”
But Ware claims several bars and private clubs have closed as a result
of the ban. He and about 50 others attended a Randolph County Planning
Commission meeting earlier this year to protest the ban. The planning
commission agreed to send letters to the board and the County
Commission asking them to reconsider the ban, but Ware said there has
been no response.
At least one county official supports the efforts of Ware and others
who wish to amend the Randolph County regulation. Julia Elbon,
president of the Randolph County Commission, said fraternal
organizations and other members-only clubs should be exempt.
“Private clubs should have the option of letting their membership
decide whether or not they want to allow smoking,” Elbon said. “That’s
a private, uninvited destination for people.”
‘Society adjusts’?
Ultimately, counties must go through the experience of banning smoking
to see what the effects will be. In most cases, Mickey said, doomsday
business predictions are inaccurate.
“We have seen throughout the country that the anticipation of all these
negative impacts rarely comes to fruition,” Mickey said. “All the
arguments fall to the wayside. ... Once they’re implemented, most
people forget about them. Society adjusts.”
But several business owners have cited statistics at recent Monongalia
County Board of Health meetings that indicate smoking bans can severely
affect sales at bars and video lottery facilities.
Little objective research is available to support either claim. A
recent Internet search for studies on the impact of smoking bans
nationwide returned dozens of results, but nearly all of the studies
were commissioned by public health advocacy groups, hospitality
industry associations or the public bodies that enacted the rules.
A study conducted by Ridgewood Economic Associates on behalf of the New
York Nightlife Association found that a statewide smoking ban in New
York resulted in 2,000 lost jobs, and $28.5 million in lost wages and
salary payments.
But another study — conducted by several New York City administrative
departments — determined that business tax receipts in New York City
increased by 8.7 percent, and employment in New York City’s bars and
restaurants increased by 10,600 after a citywide smoking ban was
enacted, in 2003.
John McGraw, a spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video
Lottery Association, admitted that data are available to support both
sides of the issue. He said the economic impact of smoke-free laws
varies in different regions of the country.
“If you’re in a warm climate, it seems to affect businesses less than
it does in colder climates, where people don’t want to go outside and
smoke a cigarette when it’s 15 degrees,” McGraw said. “I believe here
it would affect business because of the climate we have in this area.”
Posted May 25, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, May 25, 2008.Used by permission.
Posted May 25, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, May 25, 2008. Used by permission.
State a National Model in Passing No-smoking Rules; Health Advocates Still Not Pushing for Statewide Law by Cassie Shaner
West Virginia is one of the national leaders for locally adopted clean
indoor-air regulations, but the level of comprehensive protection is
far too low to push for a statewide law, according to public health
advocates.
Annie Tegen, a senior program manager for Americans for Nonsmokers’
Rights, said West Virginia is second only to Hawaii in the adoption of
smoke-free county laws. According to Christina Mickey, project
coordinator for Smoke-Free West Virginia, each of West Virginia’s 55
counties has adopted some sort of clean indoor-air rule.
“West Virginia is a model for passing local legislation,” Tegen said.
“We know when we pass local smoke-free regulations the laws are easier
to enforce. People support them when they’re passed at the local
level.”
Mickey said public health advocates in Kentucky and other states look
to West Virginia to learn how clean indoorair laws can be passed to
improve secondhand smoke protection levels and reduce smoking rates.
Clean air laws are necessary because education alone will never reduce
smoking rates enough to eliminate secondhand smoke, she said.
“It has be combined with the ultimate supportive environment that promotes less use in our society,” Mickey said.
Comprehensive smoking bans — those that prohibit smoking in bars and
restaurants — are most effective, Mickey said, because they target the
18-to 25-year-old age group, which has the highest smoking rates.
“If you don’t have bar protection, the regulation does very little to
impact that 25 percent of the population,” Mickey said. “That’s where
they are. That’s who we’re trying to target.”
According to Tegen, 84.3 percent of West Virginians live in a city or
county with a law that requires workplaces to be 100 percent
smoke-free, but only 14.1 percent of state residents are covered by a
rule that requires bars and restaurants to prohibit smoking.
Tegen said 32 city or county laws in the state prohibit smoking in
restaurants, and just 20 of those laws also ban smoking in bars.
She said West Virginia has “a high percentage when it comes to office
workers being protected, but they’re still low when it comes to
restaurants and bar workers being protected.”
Tegen said the state’s close proximity to “tobacco country” may be one
reason West Virginia has been slow to pass more stringent anti-smoking
rules.
“The South is generally considered tobacco country, and they’re often
reluctant to pass strong smoke-free regulations, but that’s changing,
particularly in the Southeast,” Tegen said. “Workers are expecting to
work in a safe environment, and restaurants and bars are workplaces,
too.”
Tegen and Mickey said public health advocates generally recommend that
at least 50 to 60 percent of a state’s population be covered by
comprehensive smoking bans that include bars and restaurants before
pushing for a statewide law.
John McGraw, a spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video
Lottery Association, said a statewide law would level the playing field
for restaurants, bars and video lottery facilities across the state.
“No group of citizens in the state of West Virginia should have more
rights than any others, and that’s what these county bans do,” McGraw
said. “That’s why we want a statewide law.”
Mickey noted that the tobacco industry has an easier time defeating
laws at the state level, so most public health groups aim to have a
majority of counties covered by comprehensive regulations before
working to pass a state law. Even when state laws are proposed, health
advocates refuse to support them unless they preserve local control by
allowing counties and municipalities to pass additional laws.
In West Virginia, “there’s not a consensus among grassroots tobacco
prevention advocates to move toward a statewide regulation,” Mickey
said. “If you can’t get your bar workers protected at the local level,
your chances of getting something done statewide are slim.”
State Sen. Mike Oliverio, DMonongalia, said it’s much easier to pass a
law at the local level than it is at the state level, and he noted that
local laws can include more restrictive rules than statewide clean-air
laws.
“The makeup of the Legislature is such that the county would be better
to implement tobacco-free policies,” Oliverio said. “Even if the state
were to do a plan, the people of Monongalia County would probably want
a law with higher clean-air standards ... I do think we’re best served
when the closest government to the people makes the ultimate decision.
For this, that’s the board of health.”
But McGraw said politicians should take a stand on the smoking issue.
By refusing to pass a law that makes smoking rules consistent from
county to county, he said, state legislators are “skirting their
responsibilities.”
“I don’t know why they don’t want to address this issue,” McGraw said.
“Maybe they’re afraid of losing votes. No matter which side you’re on,
it’s a very important issue. For them not to get involved is just
ludicrous.”
Proposals get snuffed out
Laws
have been proposed to ban smoking statewide, but they often die in
committee. Senate Bill 209, called the Smoke Free West Virginia Act,
was introduced in the Legislature earlier this year.
It would have eliminated smoking in all public and work places in the
state, including restaurants, bars and gambling facilities.
After its introduction Jan. 11, the bill was forwarded to the Senate
committee on government organization, and it died there when the
legislative session ended, in early March.
McGraw and others in the local business community spoke in favor of the
proposed law at Monongalia County Board of Health meetings, but Mickey
said she and other public health advocates are cautious of state laws
that are introduced without the support of the state’s public health
advocates, as they can sometimes contain pre-emption language.
“Pre-emption language is basically a sneaky little paragraph or a set
of words that’s put into different bills or a bill by itself that would
basically limit any locality from adopting any smoke-free laws more
stringent than what’s at the state level, or any laws in general,”
Mickey said.
Laws are introduced nearly every year in West Virginia containing
pre-emption language. House Bill 4068, proposed earlier this year,
would have given the state the power to set smoking regulations in all
private clubs and fraternal organizations. It included pre-emption
language.
At one time, as many as 22 states had pre-emptive laws on the books,
but many have repealed those laws and restored local control, Mickey
said.
Two states that border West Virginia — Pennsylvania and Virginia —
still operate under pre-emptive laws that prohibit local boards of
health from passing clean indoor-air rules, while other nearby states —
Ohio and Maryland — have adopted statewide comprehensive smoking bans.
Posted May 25, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, May 25, 2008. Used by permission.
Putnam County Steps Back, Decides to Ease Its Strict Ban; Enforcement, Technicality Snag Process by Cassie Shaner
The Putnam County Board of Health bucked state and national trends last
year when it repealed a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in favor
of a less-restrictive 1996 regulation.
At a recent meeting to discuss changes to Monongalia County’s clean
indoor-air rule, board of health Chairman Sam Chico III said he wants
to consider the changes carefully to avoid making a mistake. He noted
that Putnam County rescinded its smoking ban just a few months after
the rule took effect.
“If we pass this, I would like it to be the last time I ever address it,” Chico said at the meeting.
Though Mon County also rescinded a more comprehensive smoking
regulation after it was passed, in 1999, Christina Mickey, project
coordinator for Smoke-Free West Virginia, said it’s “very uncommon” for
local boards of health to reverse a smoking ban.
“Generally,” Mickey said, “once boards of health have committed to clean indoor air, they rarely rescind those.”
The Putnam County Board of Health adopted a rule that prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants in 2006.
The ban took effect Jan. 1, 2007, but after three months, Mickey said,
an administrator at the county health department became frustrated by
the lack of enforcement support from the prosecutor.
To remedy the situation, the administrator proposed a change to the
regulation’s enforcement provision: Any bar or video lottery facility
caught violating the smoking ban would have its liquor and/or video
lottery license revoked for up to 30 days.
According to Mickey, the proposal — which did not affect restaurants
and other businesses where smoking was prohibited under the ban —
caused “more uprising than we’ve ever seen in any of our counties to
date.
“It was unfair treatment,” Mickey said. “It was an unconstitutional
proposal and an unequal application of the enforcement provision on
these bar owners, and they responded.”
Dr. Sam Henson, health officer and acting administrator for the county
health department, said he doesn’t recall there being an enforcement
issue with the ban, but he admitted that “so much went on around that
time that I can’t remember everything.”
As the regulation came under fire, it was revealed that the board’s vote to approve the rule was taken improperly.
Henson said the mistake — which he called “a glitch in Robert’s Rules
of Order” — was discovered by a local bar owner.
According to Henson, three of the board’s five members were present
when the vote was taken, but only two of the board members present
voted.
“The president didn’t think she had to vote,” Henson said. “Since only
two board members voted, it wasn’t a quorum.”
In August, the board voted 3-2 to reinstate a 1996 regulation that
permits smoking in bars and restaurants with posted restrictions for
who can enter the establishment.
“The regulation simply says that if any business is going to allow
smoking, nobody under 18 can enter that business,” Henson said. “If you
run a restaurant and you want to allow smoking, you can’t allow
children to enter.”
Henson said he is not sure why the board decided against the
comprehensive ban. Dr. Jeanne Bailey, chairwoman of the county board of
health, did not return a call to The Dominion Post for comment.
“I can’t speak for the board,” Henson said. “All I can say is at the
next meeting, there was a full count of the board there to hash it
out.”
Mickey said the tobacco industry endorsed age-restricted smoking
regulations, like the one in Putnam County, during the 1990s, but they
are rarely adopted anymore.
“It’s been successfully defended that they have no enforcement and
offer very little protection to anyone,” Mickey said.
But Henson said the regulation, which took effect in March, works well
in Putnam County. Most restaurants went smoke-free as a result, he
said, and smoking has been primarily restricted to bars.
“I don’t know if we’ll ever get a 100 percent ban. You can’t have 100
percent of anything,” Henson said. “We haven’t had any problems, and I
haven’t smelled smoke in a single restaurant I’ve been in."
Posted May 25, 2008 | Even Brief Secondhand Smoke Exposure is Injurious to Health
According
to a study by the University of California, San Francisco, the amount
of secondhnad smoke a person might normally inhale in an average bar
setting was enough to cause measurable blood vessel injury in
nonsmokers. It also interfered with the body's repair mechanisms
to the blood vessels’ injury. Many of these effects persisted 24
hours later. The study helps to explain why there is about a 20 percent drop in hospital
admissions for heart attacks when cities and states pass laws mandating
smokefree workplaces, restaurants and bars. For the complete news article, visit the USF News Office web site.
Posted May 5, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Monday, April 28, 2008. Used by permission.
Area Reps Speak on Smoking Ban; No Elected Officials Contacted BOH with Comments
by Cassie Shaner
State and local representatives were tight-lipped on the county’s
proposed smoking ban because it was not their place to comment on the
matter, officials said this week.
The Dominion Post reviewed 3,578 public comments submitted on the
proposal and found that none of the area’s elected officials contacted
the Monongalia County Board of Health regarding the ban.
State Sen. Mike Oliverio, DMonongalia, said the public comment period
was “an opportunity for the public to engage in public policy
dialogue,” rather than elected officials.
“That’s something they don’t normally get a chance to do,” Oliverio
said. “We engage in that dialogue all the time.”
Oliverio noted that he and other state legislators have consistently
weighed in on the smoking issue by increasing taxes on cigarettes to
deter tobacco use.
Monongalia County Commissioner John Pyles said there is no need for the
commission to comment on the matter because it appoints the members of
the board.
“We expect them to do every- thing possible to protect the public’s
health,” Pyles said. “That’s the reason they’re there. I think they
know that or at least I hope they do.”
Morgantown City Council voted 6-1 to pass a resolution supporting
smoke-free policies in public places and places of employment April 1.
Mayor Ron Justice said the resolution — which was designed to support
such policies in general, rather than the specific proposal being
considered by the board — was council’s way of providing input.
“I think we were going to let the resolution stand as our comment,”
Justice said. “I don’t want to speak for all of council, but that was
my understanding.”
The board sought public input on proposed changes to the county’s clean
indoor air law for 45 days, ending March 16. The amended regulation
would prohibit smoking in most public places and places of employment,
including bars, restaurants and video gambling facilities.
The city’s resolution was passed the first week in April — after the
board’s March 29 meeting, at which time its members could have voted on
the proposal.
Justice said council had to wait to pass the resolution because of the
time frame in which it was introduced. Catherine Whitworth, chairwoman
of the Monongalia County Tobacco Prevention Partnership and Smoke-Free
Mon County, presented the resolution to council during the public
portion of February’s committee-of-the-whole meeting, but council had
to wait until March’s committee-of-thewhole meeting to introduce it for
consideration.
Committee-of-the-whole meetings are held on the final Tuesday of each month.
“That’s our policy,” Justice said of the delayed vote. “In order for
something to move onto our agenda for official action, we have to
discuss it at committee-of-the-whole, and [councilman] Don [Spencer]
wanted it to be an official action.”
Spencer has spoken in favor of the ban at board meetings.
“It’s important that the county do the right thing in terms of public
health,” he said. “Public safety and public health trump individual
liberties.”
Councilman Jim Manilla, the lone vote against the resolution and a
former businessman, opposes the ban because of its potential impact on
businesses. However, he didn’t make up his mind about the ban until the
week of council’s vote, and he said he didn’t know enough about the
issue to recommend any course of action to the board.
“It’s just not our place,” Manilla said. “It’s a health department
issue. They’re the ones that make that decision.”
One prominent resident who does not fear the ban’s impact on business
is Steve LaCagnin, chairman of the board of directors for the
Morgantown Area Chamber of Commerce. Though he is not an elected
official, LaCagnin said his responsibility as chairman of the board of
directors for the Wellness Councils of America prompted him to send a
postcard to the health department in support of the ban.
“The evidence is indisputable that secondhand smoke is dangerous to
nonsmokers and smokers, as well,” LaCagnin said. “It kills many people
every year.”
Though there is also evidence that argues such policies hurt business,
LaCagnin said history indicates that business eventually stabilizes at
many establishments after communities adjust to smoking bans.
Bars and other facilities that permit smoking “don’t get my business,”
LaCagnin said. “And I know there are a whole bunch of people who would
go out and enjoy some of these facilities a lot more often if they
didn’t allow smoking.”
The board met in special session last week to discuss the proposed
smoking ban and an alternative proposal presented by the Monongalia
County Bar and Video Lottery Association. The board has tentative plans
to meet again before its next regularly scheduled meeting May 29 to
discuss the two proposals further.
Posted April 28, 2008 | Atlantic City Bans Smoking in Casinos
With
a vote of 9-0, the Atlantic City council closed a loophole in New
Jersey's statewide public smoking ban by prohibiting smoking on casino
floors. Gamblers will still be able to smoke in totally seperate
rooms that employees are not required to enter.
Casino workers chanted "Thank you, thank you, thank you"
when the votes were counted. Read more about it at CBSNews.com
Posted April 26, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, April 25, 2008. Used by permission.
Smoking Ban Spurs Many Form Letters; Majority of 3,578 Public Comments About Proposal By Cassie Shaner
Dozens of form letters were submitted to the Monongalia County Board of
Health opposing a proposed smoking ban on behalf of local bars and
video lottery facilities.
On Thursday, The Dominion Post reviewed 3,578 comments submitted on the
proposal. According to a tally from the health department, about 1,441
comments supported the proposal and 2,137 opposed it.
Monongalia County Circuit Court Judge Robert Stone granted the
newspaper unrestricted access to the comments Wednesday. The newspaper
filed a lawsuit against the board last week, after the health
department refused to provide unaltered copies of the comments in
response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
As board Chairman Sam Chico III indicated at a meeting last month, a
majority of the comments from both sides of the issue were form letters
or pre-addressed postcards. Many letters were submitted on behalf of
specific bars and restaurants, including Bugsy’s, Dimitri’s Steak and
Seafood, Automatic Slims, Good Times Lounge, Lojak’s, Nick &
Terri’s Tavern and Starz.
Patrons of Mundy’s, on the corner of Madigan and Mississippi streets, submitted more than 25 form letters.
Jerry Hofawger, 38, of Elysian Avenue, said he volunteered to fill out
one of the letters after someone else brought it into the bar.
“I don’t smoke, but I know what I’m getting myself into if I go into a
bar, and I think people should have the right to smoke,” Hofawger said.
The Mon County Health Department received three basic versions of form
letters from those opposing the ban — a general letter, a letter for
business owners and a letter for nonsmokers. Each letter states that
private citizens have the right to choose whether they want to smoke
and whether they want to patronize businesses that permit smoking.
John McGraw, a spokesman for the Monongalia County Bar and Video
Lottery Association, and Jerry Lorenze, owner and manager of Kegler’s,
Kegler’s 2 and Suburban Lanes, were not available Thursday to comment
on who produced the letters or how they were distributed.
Several petitions against the ban were sent in envelopes with return addresses for Suburban Lanes.
Nonsmoker Leah Adkins, 40, of Green Street, sub- mitted the general
form letter against the ban. She said she is worried about how the ban
will affect bars such as Gene’s Beer Garden, on Wilson Avenue.
Adkins estimated that 80 percent of the customers at Gene’s are smokers.
“I really fear for some of the smaller businesses, that it’s going to
hurt them in the long run,” Adkins said. “I’m a nonsmoker, but I
certainly know the risks I take when I go in there.”
Hundreds of pre-addressed postcards were submitted to the board from
advocates of the smoking ban. Catherine Whitworth, chairwoman of the
Monongalia County Tobacco Prevention Partnership and Smoke-Free Mon
County, said the coalition’s 70 members handed out the postcards.
A few volunteers set up a table at WVU’s Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center for anyone who was interested.
“We just gave those out at our meetings, and then people distributed them however they could,” Whitworth said.
More than 500 postcards were provided by the Smoke-Free Initiative of
West Virginia, Whitworth said, but volunteers printed out others on
their personal computers.
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for the Smoke-Free Initiative of
West Virginia, did not return a call to The Dominion Post by press time
for comment on the cost of the postcards.
Volunteers also offered stickers with messages such as “I urge the
Board of Health to pass a comprehensive smoking ban that covers all
public places.” Whitworth said the stickers were offered with the
postcards, but were not automatically affixed to each card.
“We did not choose what people would say,” Whitworth said. “They
actually made the choice to use one or hand write” a postcard.
WVU student Justin Genwright, 19, of North Carolina, filled out one of
the cards in support of the proposal. He would like to see smoking
prohibited in restaurants, in particular.
“Anytime you’re in a restaurant and you have someone smoking near you, it ruins your whole meal,” Genwright said.
Chelsea Becker, 21, of Pittsburgh, submitted a letter in support of the
ban. Becker, also a WVU student, works in two bars — one that allows
smoking and one that does not.
Becker said she enjoys bartending, but she would prefer not to work in the smoke.
“I’m in college. Bartending is the best job you can get without a
degree, in my opinion,” Becker said. “It’s my job and I like it, but I
wish I didn’t have to deal with the smoke.”
The board sought public input on proposed changes to the county’s clean
indoor air law for 45 days, ending March 16. The amended regulation
would prohibit smoking in most public places and places of employment,
including bars, restaurants and video gambling facilities.
The board met in special session last week to discuss the proposed
smoking ban and an alternative proposal presented by the Monongalia
County Bar and Video Lottery Association. The board has tentative plans
to meet again before its next regularly scheduled meeting May 29 to
discuss the two proposals further.
Posted April 25, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Thursday, April 24, 2008. Used by permission.
Paper Gets Access to BOH Letters; Smoking Ban Comments Ruled Public Under FOIA
By Cassie Shaner
Monongalia Circuit Court Judge Robert Stone granted The Dominion Post
unrestricted access Wednesday to 3,578 public comments on a proposed
countywide smoking ban.
The Dominion Post filed a complaint for injunction against the county
health department and the Monongalia County Board of Health last week,
after the board refused to release unaltered copies of the written
comments.
“I’m pleased with Judge Stone’s ruling,” said The Dominion Post Editor
Geri Ferrara. “Although we were confident that the letters submitted to
the BOH should be a matter of public record, it is reassuring to have
our stance backed by law.”
Stone cited precedent from the 1996 case Daily Gazette Co. v. W.Va. Development as justification for his decision.
“When citizen letter-writers ‘go public’ by writing to a government
official concerning a public issue, they lost their expectation of
confidentiality, as do the government officials who write in response,”
Stone said, reading from the case.
Public comments submitted by U.S. postal mail or e-mail are essentially
equivalent to the input that would be provided at a public hearing.
“This seems to me the same thing extended, because we can’t accommodate
everybody saying it personally to us, so we invite you to email or
write in,” Stone said. “It was labeled public comment, not private
comment.”
Representing The Dominion Post, Harry M. Rubenstein, of Dinsmore &
Shohl law firm, said Stone applied the law in a fair manner that
justified the newspaper’s decision to file suit.
“I think I agree with his analysis,” Rubenstein said. “He applied the
law to come to the conclusion that the public comments are not exempt
from disclosure.”
Ferrara said Stone’s approach to the case was impressive.
“Judge Stone recognized the import of the issue,” Ferrara said. “His
attitude was apparent in how seriously he addressed the case, the case
law he considered and the homework he did on the issue.”
Assistant Prosecutor Phil Magro, counsel for the board and the health
department, asked Judge Stone to bar access to the letters in their
entirety.
He argued that the comments were protected under the eighth exemption
of the Freedom of Information Act, which restricts “internal memoranda
or letters received or prepared by any public body” from public
disclosure.
Magro cited the 1996 suit in his answer to the complaint, filed Tuesday
in Monongalia County Circuit Court, as the reason why the comments
should be exempt from disclosure. The case law indicates that written
communication between a public body and “outside consultants or
experts” obtained as part of the body’s decision-making process is
exempt from disclosure.
But Stone said Magro’s application of the 1996 case “took a wrong
direction.” The public comments submitted to the health department on
the smoking ban do not constitute expert opinions, Stone said.
“This [1996] case actually supports the petition in this case that
these records should be provided, all of them without redaction and
without striking of names and addresses ...,” Stone said. “I do not
find that these public opinions affect the deliberative or the
decision-making process in the manner that this [1996] case indicates
it must affect it before it’s the kind of communication which should be
exempt from disclosure.”
Ferrara said a ruling against the newspaper would have prompted an appeal.
“It is important to remember that the press is the public and this was,
symbolically, a major case for public access. It is vital that the
FOIA, the Open Public Meetings Act and other public access laws are
upheld to prevent secrecy in government.”
The board sought public input on proposed changes to the county’s clean
indoor air law for 45 days, ending March 16. The amended regulation
would prohibit smoking in most public places and places of employment,
including bars, restaurants and video gambling facilities.
The newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking copies
of the public comments last month, after Sam Chico III, the board
chairman, denied a verbal request to obtain copies at a meeting March
29.
At that meeting, Chico said the names, addresses and phone numbers
submitted with each comment constituted “private information” that
should not be released to the public.
Chico instead released a tally of the comments that indicated a total
of 3,578 comments were received; about 1,441 supported the proposal and
2,137 were against it. A majority of the comments from both sides of
the issue were form letters, he said.
Representatives for the newspaper will review the comments today. The
results of the paper’s analysis will be published in a future edition
of The Dominion Post.
The board met in special session last week to discuss the proposed
smoking ban and an alternative proposal presented by the Monongalia
County Bar and Video Lottery Association. The board has tentative plans
to meet again before its next regularly scheduled meeting on May 29 to
discuss the two proposals further.
Posted April 24, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Wednesday, April 23, 2008. Used by permission.
EDITORIAL
BOH Clouding Up the Issue; Board Needs to Focus on Smoking Ban and Stop Going Off on Tangents
Some members of the Monongalia County Board of Health want to hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door.
Rather
than make a decision on a proposed smoking ban in most public places
and workplaces, we get the impression the BOH wants to continue
sleeping on it.
Last
week, at a special meeting of the BOH to review proposals on smoking in
public places, the BOH’s chairman raised the issue of restricting
smoking in private hotel and motel rooms and clarifying the rules on
smoking outside hospitals.
The
chairman said the need for clearer language on smoking restrictions in
hotels is a result of nonsmokers sometimes being forced into smoking
rooms due to limited space. There are some weekends in the Morgantown
area when there may not be any vacancies due to WVU football games or
other university events.
But
we cannot help but think this issue is just a ruse to avoid a
decision.We urge the BOH to stay focused on health issues. If there are
not enough nonsmoking rooms available to accommodate football weekends,
we would think that is the province of the hotel industry and
developers. They supply the demand. It’s not the responsibility of the
BOH to assure hotels have enough nonsmoking rooms.
And it’s not like the public doesn’t have the choice to go to a nearby
hotel. Nor can the public inadvertently just walk into a smoking room
without paying for it.
We also suspect that Ruby Memorial Hospital and other medical
facilities do not need further clarification on rules that propose
smoking areas must be at least 15 feet from its exits and cannot block
the entrances.
Hospitals, you would think, might be inclined to ban smoking on their campuses, including their parking lots.
Perhaps the mere discussion of how widely to apply a smoking ban is a
step forward. We’re not talking about whether or not we should ban
smoking — we’re talking about the kind of exceptions to approve.
However, many communities and even states made the transition to ban
smoking in restaurants and other workplaces years ago.
Since January 2007, nine states have enacted laws prohibiting smoking
in restaurants and bars, with a mix of exceptions, according to the
American Lung Association. In all, more than 17 counties in West
Virginia, 22 states and the District of Columbia have comprehensive
smoking bans.
There’s a reason that such issues as a smoking ban in public places are
handled separately from such issues as hotels having enough rooms to
cater to nonsmokers. That’s because the BOH decides issues that protect
the public health. Period.
The vast majority of this community is tired of having this issue
becoming an ongoing subject of debate. If we have to come back and
tweak it, fine.
Time to flip the sign on the door to “Please, Make Up Your Mind.”
Posted April 23, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, April 20, 2008. Used by permission.
Alan Ducatman
Best Job in the World? He’s Not Blowing Smoke by Deana Landers
Ask Dr. Alan Ducatman what the best thing about his job is and he will tell you it’s everything.
“I have the best job in the world,” he said. “I am surrounded by great
people doing leading work around the world, I have the opportunity to
recruit young faculty and watch them grow, and I am invited to make a
difference in the community where I live.”
Ducatman is a professor of medicine and community medicine, a
department chairman and a clinician at WVU. His administrative
assistant, Linda Lilly, said he carries a workload equal to that of
three full-time faculty members.
“His day begins very early in the morning and he rarely leaves the
office before 6:30 p.m. or later,” she said. “When he is not teaching a
class or meeting with a student, or carrying out the voluminous
administrative details involved with leading one of the largest
academic units in the [WVU Robert C. Byrd] Health Sciences Center, he
is in the clinic seeing patients.”
Ducatman’s specialty is occupational medicine. He treats patients
suffering from workplace or environmental exposure to toxins such as
coal, silica, asbestos and lead.
He also works with the local health department on issues such as
smoking in the workplace and the need to protect workers. His
professional society’s position paper on the health hazards of smoking
in the workplace forms part of the basis for public policy in West
Virginia.
He testified in Marion and Monongalia counties about the risk of lung
cancer and heart disease caused by secondhand smoke. His recommendation
to the Monongalia County Board of Health, after carefully documented
research, was to enact a comprehensive clean indoor-air law that
guarantees workers and the public the right to breathe smoke-free air
in the workplace.
“I think that the county taxpayers and businesses save money, and
reduce impending liability, each time a harmful risk can be removed at
low cost,” Ducatman said. And, he said, there is also substantial
literature indicating that business is not lost.
As a professor, Ducatman teaches environmental health, a core area for
the Master of Public Health program, which he created with Dr. Bill
Carlton, for the department of community medicine.
Robert White, a regional epidemiologist for the Monongalia County
Health Department, was one of Ducatman’s students.
“He was a very caring professor, and he provides the health department
with good information, leads and resources for community projects,”
White said.
Ducatman is proud of the work done in his department and the people on
his team. “As a department chair, I have the joy of working with
colleagues that do so much, with not a lot of resources, and they make
a difference,” he said.
 | POSITION: Professor
and Chair, Department of Community Medicine, West Virginia University,
adjunct positions in the Department of Medicine, and the Davis College
of Agriculture, Forestry, and Consumer Consumer Sciences, both at WVU
NATIONAL VOLUNTARY POSITION: Chair,
Board of Scientific Counselors, National Environmental Health Center,
and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
HOMETOWN: Morgantown for past 16 years; grew up on both coasts. | | Alan Ducatman has testified locally against the dangers of secondhand smoke. | EDUCATION: BA at Columbia, MS at CUNY/Hunter and Mt Sinai, MD at Wayne State (Detroit)
RESIDENCIES: Brown and Mayo Clinic
FAMILY: Wife Barbara (MD, also at WVU), and sons Joseph, David, Sam (3 college students, 2 at WVU)
HOBBIES: Running, biking, swimming, not sitting still
QUOTE: “To make a difference” |
Posted April 21, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Thursday, April 17, 2008. Used by permission.
BOH Torn on Smoking Ban: Argue Personal Choice Versus Health Rights
by Cassie Shaner
The Monongalia County Board of Health discussed whether smoking should
be permitted in bars at a special meeting Wednesday, debating the value
of protecting personal rights over public health and vice versa.
The board also asked Christina Mickey, project coordinator for
Smoke-Free West Virginia, on Wednesday to add language to a proposed
smoking ban that would restrict smoking in hotels and motels, and
clarify the rules for smoking outside hospitals.
The meeting was held to review two proposals that would alter the
county’s existing clean indoor-air regulations. The first, presented in
November by the county Tobacco Prevention Partnership, would prohibit
smoking in most public places and places of employment, including bars,
restaurants and video gambling facilities.
The second, presented to the board in March by the county Bar and Video
Lottery Association, would ban smoking in many public places and places
of employment, but not in bars or video lottery rooms.
Board chairman Sam Chico III said he understands the board’s mission is
to protect the public’s health, but it’s hard to deny a person the
right to consume a legal product.
“It’s hard for me to reconcile the logic that we, as a health
department, allow primary smoke and don’t allow a consenting adult to
expose himself to secondhand smoke,” Chico said.
Board member Dorcas Davis shared a personal story of a cancer patient,
wearing a mask, who she saw escorting his wife outside to smoke at the
hospital recently.
“Our sole purpose, Sam, is to protect the people of this county,” she said.
Chico said he agreed with that statement, “to some degree.”
“There’s no amount of legislation that’s going to protect people from themselves,” he said.
Later, Davis debated the issue again with board member August Lucci.
She said she would like to attend more live music shows, but she
doesn’t because of the smoke in those establishments.
“We can’t take away the opportunity for these people to make their own choices,” Lucci said.
“But my liberty’s being taken away from me, Auggie,” Davis said. “I
want the same opportunity to do things as everybody else.”
Several members of the public, permitted to address the board briefly,
also addressed the issue of civil liberties and public health rights.
Lou Scotchel, who operates Classics 3, in Sabraton, said state law
permits him to decide who enters his business — a private club by
permit — and a smoking ban would restrict his right to run it as he
sees fit.
“You’re taking away my rights to allow me to do my business according
to the laws of West Virginia if you put a smoking ban on me,” Scotchel
said. “Who’s going to enforce it? I do not have to let them in a
private club, and I shouldn’t have to be the police officer to tell
somebody not to smoke.”
But Allison McClung — who works two part-time jobs, one at the WVU
Health Sciences Center and one at a bar downtown — argued that she has
the right to be protected from secondhand smoke at work, regardless of
where that may be.
“What I don’t understand is that I’m protected from secondhand smoke at
one job, but not the other,” McClung said. “I think that we just need
to get to the point about the bars. I think that needs to be dealt
with. The health department is the health department. Honestly,
secondhand smoke kills, and there’s research that proves it.”
Hotels and Hospitals
Chico
suggested two specific changes to the proposals presented Wednesday,
listing hotel rooms and hospitals as two key areas in the current clean
indoor-air regulation that should be strengthened.
He said smoking should be restricted in all hotel or motel rooms rented
out nightly, as nonsmokers are sometimes forced into smoking rooms due
to limited space.
“If it’s just something where someone’s going to pay by the night, I
don’t think it’s fair to pollute that space for everyone else,” Chico
said.
Though board member Bob Bell argued that such a rule might be hard to
enforce, Mickey said the health department already regulates nearly
every aspect of a hotel’s or motel’s daily operations.
“The health department’s job is not to enforce” smoking rules, Mickey
said. “It is the business owner’s job to do the enforcement. We’re just
there to step in if they fail to be compliant.”
Chico said he does not want to restrict smoking in private residences,
noting that some people live in hotels or condominiums above hotels,
but Mickey said the regulation could address that distinction. She
noted that the hotel permit for many large hotels, such as the
Waterfront Place Hotel, only extends to a certain level, and rules that
apply to the hotel would not affect the condominiums above that level.
Chico urged her to make the language in the provision as clear as
possible. “I don’t want any gray areas. I don’t want to even put my toe
across that line. I don’t want anything to do with private residences.”
Chico also asked Mickey to clarify the rules for smoking outside a
hospital, as people who enter Ruby Memorial Hospital are often forced
to walk through the facility’s designated smoking area to enter the
building.
Proposed changes to the county’s smoking rules would require smoking
areas to be at least 15 feet from the entrance or exit of a building.
Mickey said the changes also state that smoking areas must not block the entrance of a facility.
“Even if you didn’t change anything, Ruby and those places would be out
of compliance,” Mickey said. “They would have to move it to be in
compliance.”
At Chico’s request, Mickey agreed to revise the provision to make the
rules for hospitals more clear before the board’s next meeting.
Though Bell suggested Chico meet with board member Donna Tennant and
Mickey to develop a revised proposal, Chico said he would prefer to
meet in a public setting. Board members agreed to try to schedule
another meeting to discuss the two proposals before the board, as well
as Mickey’s additions, before the board’s next regular meeting, May 29.
Even after another meeting, Bell admitted, the law may never meet
everyone’s satisfaction, but he said there’s room for improvement.
“I think we can strengthen this,” Bell said. “I think this needs to be
tweaked. ... I think we can work toward a better air regulation. I
don’t think it will ever be 100 percent, but maybe 99.”
THE MONONGALIA COUNTY Board
of Health’s next regular meeting will be at 9 a.m. May 29, at the
Monongalia County Health Department Training Center, 453 Van Voorhis
Road. The board has tentative plans to convene again before that
meeting, but an exact time and date have not been determined. Posted April 17, 2008 | Public Forum Thursday for Commission Hopefuls
Dominion Post Letters -- April 16, 2008
On Thursday, there will be a public forum for the candidates
running for County Commission. At this time, Monongalia County has
issues of traffic, growth and planning, among others, which many people
have a great interest in solving.
This year, we are electing someone to a seat on the County Commission
in which there is no incumbent. There are four Democrats running and
one Republican. Only one of these Democrats will be elected in the
primary to run in the fall against the Republican, Ed Hawkins.
Come to the candidate forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, at Suncrest United
Methodist Church/ Drummond Chapel Campus, on Van Voorhis Road.
Meet Bill Bartolo, Steve Cook, Hawkins, Denny Poluga and Bill Rice and
ask them questions. Be ready to make an informed decision May 13, when
we choose someone who can help Monongalia County meet the challenges of
the next six years.
Catherine Lozier
League of Women Voters
The County Commission also appoints the Board of Health. Which candidates support clean air? --Smokefreemonc.org
Posted April 16, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Tuesday, April 15, 2008. Used by permission.
2nd Smoking Ban: Legal Issues? Alternate Plan May Draw Suits, Lawyer Reports
by Casssie Shaner
An alternative smoking ban proposed by the Monongalia
County Bar and Video Lottery Association could create legal problems
for the Monongalia County Board of Health, according to an attorney for
Smoke-Free West Virginia.
At the request of Smoke-Free West Virginia, Teresa Dumire, an attorney
with Kay, Casto & Chaney, reviewed two laws being considered by the
board to limit smoking in public places and places of employment.
The first — proposed last November by the Monongalia County Tobacco
Prevention Partnership — “is nearly identical to the provision that has
been passed in 18 other West Virginia counties and has withstood court
challenges in various venues throughout West Virginia,” Dumire said in
a letter sent to board members Monday.
But the second proposal — presented to the board last month by the bar
and lottery association — could have costly legal ramifications, she
said.
For example, the proposal permits smoking in bars, and labels a bar as
any place that sells alcohol — which would include grocery and
convenience stores.
“Collectively, the proposed [bar and lottery association] amendments
create internal conflicts within the regulation as well as ambiguous
and redundant exemptions for the same conduct, all of which is designed
to frustrate enforcement and open the [board] to prolonged litigation,”
Dumire said.
John McGraw, a spokesman for the association, said that was never the
group’s intention. The proposal was based on input gathered from local
business owners during the six-week period that the original proposal
was posted for public comment, he said.
Because of the tight time frame, McGraw said, there was no time to have
the proposal reviewed by an attorney, and he admitted that some minor
changes may be necessary.
“We don’t write these proposals for a living like they do,” McGraw
said. “Certainly there may be some words that need to be changed. Our
intention was not to expand smoking or make it hard to enforce.”
Catherine Whitworth, chairwoman of the Monongalia County Tobacco
Prevention Partnership and Smoke-Free Mon County, cited the
association’s definition of a bar as one major concern.
“They redefine a bar as an establishment that sells — not serves, but
sells — any kind of alcohol at all,” Whitworth said, noting that
grocery stores, convenience stores and bowling alleys could arguably
permit smoking under that definition. “It expands places where smoking
is permitted beyond what even our current regulation allows.”
McGraw said the definition could be altered to encompass businesses
that serve, rather than sell, alcohol without changing the basic
objective of the association’s proposal.
“Maybe that was an oversight on our part,” he said. “Our proposal wants
to restrict smoking just as much as theirs, if not more.”
McGraw cited public parks as an example. In her report, Dumire
acknowledged that the association’s suggestion to restrict smoking in
public parks and along rail-trails has merit and should be considered
by the board.
But another addition — to restrict smoking in vehicles where children
are often present — would be hard for health department employees, who
are not authorized to make traffic stops, to enforce, Dumire said.
McGraw said the association has since reviewed that provision.
“It would be hard and, in fact, it would probably have to be a state
law,” McGraw said. “We think this whole issue should be regulated by
state law, rather than county by county. We’ve argued that from day
one. If there’s going to be no exemptions, there should be no
exemptions.”
The association’s proposal does exempt businesses that restrict access
to people over the age of 18 from the definition of a “public place.”
Though Whitworth said the definition could entice many businesses to
impose age restrictions and thereby allow smoking, McGraw said
age-restricted establishments cannot truly be considered a public
place.
“It’s not open to all of the public,” McGraw said. “It’s only open to a segment of the public that’s over 18.”
Christina Mickey, project coordinator for Smoke-Free West Virginia,
said she requested the legal review as an additional resource for the
board to consider in making its decision. She said Smoke-Free West
Virginia has provided funding to review clean indoor air proposals for
boards of health across the state.
“Local boards of health are not agencies with lots of resources,”
Mickey said. “They rely on the prosecutor for defense. ... Anything we
can do to help them out of court, we do.”
In addition to the legal issues, Mickey said the board has a
responsibility to protect the public’s health — something the
association’s proposal does not do.
But McGraw claims the board is obligated to protect residents within
reason, without violating their personal rights. He noted that
consuming an excessive amount of red meat or alcohol is also bad for
one’s health, but the board is not likely going to impose rules that
further restrict the use of those products.
Cigarettes are “a legal product,” McGraw said. “We believe people
should be able to use a legal, adult product in an adult environment.”
THE MONONGALIA COUNTY Board
of Health meets in special session at 2 p.m. Wednesday, at the
Monongalia County Health Department Training Center, 453 Van Voorhis
Road, to discuss two proposed clean indoor air regulations. Both
proposals can be viewed online at smoke freemonc.org. Posted April 15, 2008 | This editorial appeared in the Dominion Post on Sunday, April 13, 2008. Used by permission.
EDITORIAL
The Facts Don’t Blow Smoke -- BOH Should Fulfill Duty to Public, Not Public Opinion
The Monongalia County Board of Health doesn’t need public opinion on its side — it has the facts.
In the coming weeks, the BOH is going to review and discuss two
proposed initiatives on public smoking and more than 3,500 public
comments that were submitted to it earlier this year. It has also heard
from the public at several meetings on this issue.
Some might think otherwise, but the purpose of this public input has
not been for reasons of polling or surveying opinion.
The BOH’s primary obligation is to protect the public’s health, and
there’s no one who can make a reasonable argument that smoking is not
hazardous to your health.
And it’s empowered by the law of the land to do that within the public domain.
We have already endorsed the Monongalia County Clean Air Coalition’s
proposal that bans smoking in all public locations and in workplaces,
and we won’t change our mind for public opinion.
It’s been said where facts are few, experts are many. In this
circumstance, the facts are overwhelming, but those with the most
opinions pretend to be the experts — with the fewest facts.
Admittedly, some elected and even appointed public officials do make
decisions based upon public opinion research, but that’s not the way
it’s supposed to work.
That’s why we elect and appoint our representatives. They make the
decisions based on facts and conscience, not public opinion. If our
nation were to put every issue in the form of a public referendum, the
gridlock in Charleston and Washington might look promising.
We are not discounting public opinion. This section of our newspaper
publishes it daily. Yet, in this instance, regarding the BOH, it should
only be for informational purposes that might shed light on this issue
— not determine who’s for it and against it.
Especially when the evidence is so well documented. This issue is not
revolutionary, either. Cities, counties, states and nations have banned
smoking in all public venues — including Chicago, New York state, Italy
and 17 counties in our state.
All of these places and hundreds more have smoke-free restaurants and bars.
There’s no reason to have a BOH if it’s sole purpose is to rubber-stamp
public opinion. Clearly, we are never going to be able to regulate or
legislate common sense, but we can regulate and legislate public health
and safety in public places.
The reason BOH exists is to make such decisions, without kow-towing to politics or public opinion.
How could the BOH not support a smoking ban that protects everyone?
Only by ignoring the facts and its responsibility. Posted April 13, 2008 | | THE MONONGALIA COUNTY Board of Health meets in special session
at 2 p.m. Wednesday, at the Monongalia County Health Department
Training Center, 453 Van Voorhis Road. The Board will discuss two
smoking ban proposals at the meeting. Both proposals can be viewed
online at smokefreemonc.org. Posted April 11, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Friday, April 11, 2008. Used by permission.
Newspaper Suing BOH; Seeks Access to Public Comments on Smoking
by Cassie Shaner
The Monongalia County Board of Health will face a lawsuit for refusing
to provide unredacted copies of public comments on a proposed
countywide smoking ban, The Dominion Post Editor Geri Ferrara said
Thursday.
The board agreed last week to release copies of the comments, but with
all names, addresses and telephone numbers removed.
“It is important that this newspaper fight for the public’s right to
know,” Ferrara said. “It would be irresponsible for The Dominion Post
to simply accept what a government agency decides it wants to share
when we believe it is clearly public information.”
Last month, the newspaper filed a Freedom of Information Act request
seeking copies of the comments, after Sam Chico III, the board
chairman, denied a verbal request to obtain copies at a meeting March
29.
At that meeting, Chico said the names, addresses and phone numbers
submitted with each comment constituted “private information” that
should not be released to the public.
Chico instead released a tally of the comments that indicated a total
of 3,578 comments were received; about 1,441 supported the proposal and
2,137 were against it. A majority of the comments from both sides of
the issue were form letters, he said.
Harry Rubenstein, an attorney for The Dominion Post, said the suit will
not affect the board’s actions on the smoking ban proposal.
“This Freedom of Information lawsuit seeking access to the unredacted
public record will have no bearing on the board of health’s decision,”
Rubenstein said. “This has nothing to do with the board’s decision. It
really is just about access to the unredacted public record.”
Rubenstein said the lawsuit will be filed in Monongalia County Circuit
Court within a few days and should be resolved quickly.
“The nature of the Freedom of Information laws provide for expedited
consideration by the court,” Rubenstein said. “Soon after filing the
lawsuit and serving the papers on the board of health, I would expect a
prompt judicial ruling.”
The board sought public input on the proposed law for 45 days, ending March 16.
“At no time during that period did the board indicate that respondents
should have an expectation of privacy,” Ferrara said.
The regulation would prohibit smoking in most public places and places
of employment, including bars, restaurants and video gambling
facilities.
“The board of health, through its executive director, took the position
that names are private, but we have a 1985 ruling from the Supreme
Court that says names aren’t private,” Rubenstein said, citing the West
Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals’ 1985 ruling on Hechler v. Casey.
According to the ruling, names and residential addresses are “public in
nature in that they constitute information normally shared with
strangers and are ascertainable by reference to many publicly
obtainable books and records.”
In a letter to The Dominion Post last week, Jim Strosnider, executive
director of the Monongalia County Health Department, cited a legal
opinion from assistant prosecuting attorney Phil Magro in which he
states that the Freedom of Information Act’s Internal Memorandum
exemption protects public comments — including individuals’ names,
addresses and telephone numbers — from disclosure. Magro also discussed
the matter with the prosecutor and someone at the state Attorney
General’s Office, according to Strosnider’s letter.
The letter stated that a valid position may be taken that the most
recently requested documents may be exempt from disclosure under that
memorandum, but that the office would provide the documents with the
names, addresses and telephone numbers removed.
Ferrara previously stated that the newspaper has no interest in
publishing information that respondents would prefer remained
unpublished, but the origin of the response is key to the credibility
of the tally.
“However, the public should be able to know the source of the
information on which this public body is relying to make this extremely
important decision,” Ferrara said.
“After all, where is the credibility of the ‘public response’ if, for
example, it was discovered that all 2,137 letters against the ban
happen to be written by tobacco company owners or employees?
“Now, I gather that isn’t the case, but what if they were?” Ferrara
said. “Shouldn’t the public have the right to know that that is the
source being used by board members to decide whether or not smoking
should be banned?
“How would we ever know without seeing the original documents?”
The board will meet in special session Wednesday to review the public
comments and the proposed smoking ban, as well as an alternative
proposal the Monongalia County Bar and Video Lottery Business
Association presented at the March meeting.
That proposal would ban smoking in most public places and places of
employment, except private residences, bingo halls, personal care
homes, bars and video lottery rooms. It would also permit smoking in
the “physically separated bar areas of restaurants, hotels and other
smoking facilities,” as long as ventilation systems are installed “to
prevent the free movement of smoke from such areas into any adjoining
nonsmoking areas.”
Chico has said he expects the board to make a decision on the smoking
ban at its next regularly scheduled meeting, May 29. Posted April 11, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Thursday, April 10, 2008. Used by permission.
Health Board Will Ponder Smoking Ban: Plans to Address Two Proposals at Meeting
by Cassie Shaner
The Monongalia County Board of Health meets in special session at
2 p.m. Wednesday, at the Monongalia County Health Department Training
Center, 453 Van Voorhis Road.
Almost three weeks after voting to postpone a decision on a countywide
smoking ban, the Monongalia County Board of Health will meet in special
session Wednesday to address two proposals.
The meeting will be public, but Monongalia County Health Department
officials did not clarify whether the public will be permitted to
comment or address the board at the meeting.
Shelley Martin, public health educator for the health department, said
board Chairman Sam Chico III “stated that [the board members] will
follow the bylaws, and they will follow West Virginia State Code.”
The board’s bylaws indicate that all meetings will be open to the
public and publicly advertised, but they do not include a provision for
public comment.
State Code 6-9A-3 states that “any governing body may make and enforce
reasonable rules for attendance and presentation at any meeting.” The
code also says “that persons who desire to address the governing body
may not be required to register to address the body more than fifteen
minutes prior to time the scheduled meeting is to commence,” but it
does not include circumstances when the board is required to accept
public comment.
The board voted 4-1 at its regular March meeting to hold a special
session before its next regular meeting, to review public comments
submitted to the health department and discuss two smoking ban
proposals. Board members Bob Bell, August Lucci, Donna Tennant and
Chico voted in favor of the motion. Board member Dorcas Davis voted
against it.
At the time, board members expressed a desire to make the special
meeting public, but avoid a lengthy public comment period. Residents
have packed the board’s two most recent meetings, taking an hour or
more to provide feedback on a proposed smoking ban.
The proposed law at issue was first presented in November. It lists 18
public spaces where smoking would be prohibited, including restaurants,
retail stores, service lines, public transit vehicles, sports
facilities, public meeting places, and all areas customarily used by
the public in businesses and nonprofit entities.
Smoking would also be banned in bars, which fall under the definition of a restaurant in the proposed law.
The board will also discuss an alternative regulation that was
presented to the board at its most recent meeting. The proposal would
ban smoking in most public places and places of employment, except
private residences, bingo halls, personal care homes, bars and video
lottery rooms.
The law would permit smoking in the “physically separated bar areas of
restaurants, hotels and other smoking facilities,” as long as
ventilation systems are installed “to prevent the free movement of
smoke from such areas into any adjoining nonsmoking areas.”
Chico has said he expects the board to make a decision on the smoking
ban at its next regularly scheduled meeting, on May 29.
The Monongalia County Board of Health meets in special session at 2
p.m. Wednesday, at the Monongalia County Health Department Training
Center, 453 Van Voorhis Road.
Posted April 10, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Wednesday, April 9, 2008. Used by permission.
EDITORIAL
Marion Proposal Needs to Be Relit; Passage of Smoking Ban Should’ve Undergone Appropriate Scrutiny
The expression, “No comment,” rarely satisfies anyone.
Particularly when a public body, such as the Marion County Board of
Health, attempts to circumvent public comment. On March 28, the Marion
BOH approved a smoking ban in bars, video gambling parlors and within
15 feet of the entrance to any public building. That alone does not
bother us. Our editorial board has endorsed a proposed smoking ban in
public places and workplaces in Monongalia County. We also maintain
boards of health are empowered to enact such bans in public places. But
that said, such proposals should still be subject to public comment and
publicity in the local media. The Marion County BOH did follow the
letter of the law. Its bylaws require a meeting’s agenda to be
advertised and posted publicly, which it was. Yet, that notice only
indicated that the board’s Clean Indoor Air panel would present a
report. One board member noted he did not even expect a vote on the
proposal then. But most galling to us was this: This proposal was never
officially posted by the BOH for public comment or adequately
publicized in the local media.
We realize state code does not require local health boards to conduct
public-comment periods on proposals before them. And we are aware that
this proposal was advertised in three editions of a Fairmont newspaper.
Furthermore, we’re also aware the Clean Indoor Air committee posted
copies of the proposed law and a document that summarized the changes
at the Marion County Courthouse, the public library, the county health
department and at the J. Harper Meredith Building for months.
Yet, how many citizens actually examine such proposals at the
courthouse or the library? And although this proposal was legally
advertised several times in a local newspaper, this issue deserved more
publicity than that.
The panel eventually received only four comments, and they were
favorable. After the reaction in Monongalia County to a similar
proposal, we know something was amiss there if that’s all the comments
this proposal elicited.
One BOH member said, neither the board nor the panel gave the public a “legitimate” chance to comment on this ban.
We agree. Though the letter of the law was maintained, it appears the
spirit of the law was allowed to flicker out. The public was never
notified properly about this proposal. People did not see this proposal
and it was never publicized the way it should have been in the local
media.
The Marion BOH should seriously consider rescinding its smoking ban and
giving the public an appropriate opportunity to address this issue —
the public’s health.
As a remedy, an informed public comes recommended for most social
diseases. Nothing clears the air better. Posted April 9, 2008 | This article appeared in the Dominion Post on Wednesday, April 2, 2008. Used by permissi | |
