For the Smoke-Free Environments Law
Project home page, click here.
For the
Smoke-Free Policies in Facilities Serving Older Persons home page, click here.
NEW:
MISmokeFreeApartment web site & Campaign to Promote Smoke-Free Apartments
Visit
SFELP's award-winning MISmokeFreeApartment web site, which has a wealth of
information and resources for apartment owners and for tenants seeking
smoke-free apartments. To access the site, click above. To access a press release
describing the campaign, click here. To access a
press release titled Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing Came of Age in 2007 which describes the dramatic progress made in 2007,
click here. To
access a press release titled End of Year Heralds Record Numbers of
Smoke-Free Apartments in Michigan and the Nation which describes the enormous progress made in 2008,
click here.
News Updated
February 3rd, 2010; 1 note posted today
Santa
Clara County wants to ban smoking in apartment buildings
2/3:
The following is from a Jan. 26th Mercury News article: Santa Clara
County took aim Tuesday at smokers and drinkers, with proposals to ban smoking
in apartment buildings and toughen penalties for those who provide alcohol to
minors. The smoking proposal was unveiled by Supervisor Ken Yeager, who
was sworn in as the board's new president. It echoes a controversial law passed
last year by Belmont, which garnered national headlines. ... But his proposed
ban on smoking in apartment buildings takes its inspiration from further north.
Belmont last year became California's first city to install such a ban;
Richmond has followed suit, and Menlo Park council members are still weighing
the issue. Yeager's proposal differs in that it would not target condominiums
or townhomes. Yeager also wants the county to ban smoking in parks, as
San Jose has done, and to prohibit pharmacies from selling cigarettes.
Click above for full article.
2/1:
The following is from a January 31st Boston Herald article: Mayor Thomas M. Menino is opening a new
front in his war against tobacco: the city's cigarette-riden housing projects,
which he vows to make smoke-free in the next four years. "What we are trying to do is make a healthier environment
for people who work and live in our city," Menino told the Herald.
By this summer, smoking could be banned in more than 100 new units in
Boston Housing Authority public housing,
which currently sees rates of smoking 50 percent higher than the general
population. According to a 2006 city survey, 15.5 percent of nonpublic housing
residents smoke, compared to 23 percent of BHA renters. ... The newly built
smoke-free units include: 14 at Franklin Hill in Dorchester that opened in
October; up to 100 at Roslindale's Washington-Beech that will open in August;
and 100 at Old Colony by 2012.
While those units represent less than 2 percent of the BHA's 12,000
units, it's a start, said Menino. "I would think in the next
three to four years every public housing unit will be a smoke-free unit,"
he said. The ban comes amid a
perfect storm of factors, according to BHA officials: Demand by parents.
Children in public housing are more likely to have asthma and to live with or
around cigarette smoke, which triggers asthma attacks. "People are
trying to escape second-hand smoke and so we're trying to create this option
for folks," said BHA director of planning Kate Bennett. Pressure
from the feds. In July, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
"strongly encouraged" public housing authorities go smoke-free.
Click above for the full article and two related articles.
Kiwis
want cigarettes banned by 2020
1/29:
The following is from a TV New Zealand report: Half the nation, including smokers,
support completely banning cigarettes within 10 years, a study has found.
The 2008 Health and Lifestyles Survey compiled nationwide interviews from
the Health Sponsorship Council of 1608 people, including 422 smokers, and has
just been published in the NZ Medical Journal. It found 49.8% of people agreed cigarettes
should no longer be sold in New Zealand in 10 years, 30.3% disagreed and 19.9%
neither agreed nor disagreed. Of the smokers surveyed, 26.2% agreed and 55.3%
disagreed. The study also
showed public support for plain, unbranded cigarette packets and fewer tobacco
retailers. Pacific Islanders, in particular, showed strong support for
the measures. One of the study's authors, Dr George Thomson, from the
University of Otago, Wellington, called on the Government to take action.
"There's now a need for politicians to embrace and act on the idea
of a foreseeable and planned end to tobacco sales through a predicable timetable
by 2020. The public wants more defined action to reduce smoking, and not a
series of incremental steps." Click above to access the full story.
1/28:
According to a January 26th Post-Tribune report: Rather than watch it die a death of a
thousand cuts, State Rep. Charlie Brown of Gary angrily withdrew a bill Monday
that would have banned smoking in public places all over Indiana. Whether
or not he'll call it back before this year's session ends isn't clear.
"I'll have to do some real soul searching on that," Brown, a
Democrat, said. As written, the bill would ban smoking in all public
places except casinos, an exception Brown said he made to avoid becoming a
target of gaming lobbyists. However, the bill was amended three times Monday,
with Brown offering the first.
Brown's amendment would exempt new casinos from local smoking ordinances if
such a law exists in the community. The second amendment, offered by Rep.
Dennis Tyler, D-Muncie, would exempt bars, taverns, private clubs and fraternal
organizations. That, Brown said, defeated the point of his bill. "I
can't for the life of me figure out some of the members of my own caucus,"
Brown said. The third amendment, offered by Rep. Edward Clere, R-New
Albany, exempted tobacco businesses from the smoking ban. After it passed,
Brown saw more amendments coming and pulled his bill. Click above to access the full report.
Vermont
unveils new smoke-free housing web site
1/20:
On January 19th, the American Lung Association in Vermont is launching
Smokefree Housing Vermont at www.smokefreehousingvt.org The website will
be the first of its kind in Vermont and will serve as a resource for the
state's tenants, landlords and property managers. The site includes information
on the benefits of smokefree housing for landlords, steps to implement a policy
including lease language and tenant correspondence, and tips for ensuring
awareness and compliance. Renters can find tips on communicating with
landlords, information on tenants' rights and facts about secondhand smoke.
To access the site, click above.
1/12:
The Utah Tobacco Prevention and Control Program is holding its annual
statewide conference in Salt Lake City on January 12th. The keynote will
be given by Greg Connelly of Massachusetts who will discuss Federal, State
& Local Tobacco Control in the 21st Century. Jim Bergman of SFELP will do two presentations
on Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing: Blazing Trails – Rapidly. One session will be for housing authority
directors and staff, and the second will be for health and tobacco control
professionals. To access the 57-slide PowerPoint that Bergman will use,
click above. To access a pdf copy of the ppt presentation, click here.
1/11:
According to a January 5, 2010 press release: Comprehensive Health
Education Foundation (C.H.E.F.), long known for its mission to promote health
and quality of life through education, announced that it has received a grant
from the Washington State Department of Health for creation of the Washington
Public Housing Tobacco Prevention Network. Under terms of the agreement,
C.H.E.F.'s program will be implemented over a two-year period. Awarded to
C.H.E.F. in collaboration with its partners, the Association of Washington
Housing Authorities (AWHA) and Pacific Northwest Regional Council of National
Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (PNRC-NAHRO), the work under
the grant will establish a network whose goal is to develop a tobacco-free
environment for public housing, promote resistance to tobacco industry marketing,
identify and offer smoking cessation support and resources for public housing
residents, and bring partners together to effect systems change. Since
the project will assist housing authorities in their efforts to adopt and
implement smoke-free policies, change norms, and assist residents with
connecting to cessation services, several housing authorities throughout
Washington State have been recruited to participate in the two-year pilot
project. The participating housing authorities include those in Bellingham /
Whatcom County, Bremerton, Vancouver, Everett, Grant County, Renton, Seattle,
Spokane, Tacoma, and Walla Walla. Click above to access the full press
release.
Asheville's
Hookah Bar will defy North Carolina state law banning smoking
1/11:
The following is from a North Carolina news report: Little has changed at
the Juggling Gypsy Cafe and Hookah bar in Wilmington since the start of the
smoking ban in North Carolina Saturday. Patrons continue to smoke. However,
this is not an act of civil disobedience. Bar manager Denny Best says bar
management has found what it believes to be a loophole in the new ban, allowing
customers to continue to smoke tobacco through the water pipes.... However,
buried at the very end of the smoking ban legislation is an exemption for
actors on a live production set. So, thanks to a web cam and a streaming web
site, the Juggling Gypsy is now a stage, and all the patrons its players.
Click above to access the news story.
To Vape or Not
to Vape: Controversy Swirls Around
E-Cigarettes
1/7:
Kerry Cork of the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has written an article
of the above title for the National Association of Local Boards of Health's NewsBrief. The article discusses the various issues surrounding
e-cigarettes, including the vapors given off by them To access the article, in
pdf, click above.
1/6:
According to a news report: Smoking at all inpatient psychiatric
facilities will be banned beginning Monday by the Alabama Department of Mental
Health. The new tobacco-free initiative will affect Tuscaloosa's state
mental health facilities, including Bryce Hospital, which now bans smoking
inside its buildings but allows smoking on the grounds. The new policy
prohibits tobacco products anywhere on campus by patients, visitors, staff or
any other individuals. People
with mental illnesses are two to three times more likely than the general
population to be dependent on nicotine, research has shown. "People with a
mental illness tend to live 25 years less than the average citizen," said
John Ziegler, mental health department spokesman. "The main reason for
that is not the mental illness, it's the unhealthy lifestyle choices."
Click above for the full article.
Denver
theater company to try to take smoking ban case to Supreme Court
1/6:
According to a Denver Post report: Denver's Curious Theatre will
petition the U.S. Supreme Court for the right to smoke non-tobacco products in
its theatrical productions, artistic director Chip Walton announced Wednesday
[Dec. 30th]. For three years, Curious has unsuccessfully argued in
various courts that it should be exempt from the state's indoor smoking ban,
contending that smoking is a form of creative expression that should be
protected under free-speech rights. But in a 6-1 vote Dec. 14, the
Colorado Supreme Court refused to grant live theaters an exemption, saying the
promotion of public health supersedes the right to free speech. Curious says it has never argued for the right to
smoke actual tobacco products. The company, along with co-plaintiffs Paragon
Theatre and the now defunct Theatre 13, asked instead to be allowed to smoke
noncarcinogenic herbs when smoking is called for in plays. But the Colorado
statute specifically prohibits smoking any material that is packaged, including
herbs or teas. ... There is no guarantee the Supreme Court will hear Curious'
petition, which Walton expects to be filed in March. Walton admits it's a
longshot. Click above for the full article.
Little
Rock Housing Authority begins smoking ban at 1 of 3 city-run apartment
complexes
1/4/10:
According to a Jan. 2nd news report from Channel 5 in Arkansas: The
Little Rock Housing Authority has banned smoking at one of three city-run
apartment complexes as part of a plan to make all of its properties smoke-free
by 2012. The ban on smoking at Cumberland Towers in downtown Little Rock
began Friday [January 1, 2010], and similar bans at Parris Towers and Powell
Towers will go into effect in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Housing
Authority Director Shelly Ehenger says the regulatory agency has been working
on its smoke-free plan since 2008. The apartment complexes are for low-income
families, senior citizens and those with disabilities. To live at Cumberland
Towers or Parris Towers, a resident must be at least 50. A lighted gazebo
will be built on the wooded lawn for use by those who can't or won't quit
smoking. Click above to access the story. For a related story on
this, click here.
1/4/10:
The following is from a Jan. 2nd news report: A local [Portsmouth, N.H.]
man police say was smoking in public housing has been arrested on two
misdemeanor charges alleging his cigarette caused a Dec. 8 fire that required
the partial evacuation of Margeson Apartments on Middle Street. Thomas
Perkins, 62, of 245 Middle Street, Apt. 209 was arrested on a Class B
misdemeanor charges of reckless conduct and criminal mischief, according to
Portsmouth Detectives Capt. Corey MacDonald. Police say the arrest stems
from an investigation of a Dec. 8 fire at the Margeson Apartments complex that
serves as public housing for the elderly and disabled. The fire required
the evacuation of many of the building's residents and a full response by the
Portsmouth Fire Department that caused the shutting down of a portion of Middle
Street. The blaze was contained to a single apartment, but resulted in a
smoke condition in the apartment building. MacDonald said Perkins is
alleged to have placed the residents of Margeson Apartments in dangerous of
serious bodily injury in that he smoked cigarettes in the apartment contrary to
public housing rules. Police
said Perkins cigarette caused the fire to start allege the man failed to
extinguish the fire or raise an alarm upon discovering the fire. Perkins was
taken into custody without incident and his misdemeanor charges are punishable
by up to a $1,200 fine, but do not carry the possibility of any jail time.
Perkins was released on $2,000 personal recognizance bail, with the
conditions of no smoking on Portsmouth Housing Property and no alcohol use.
Click above to access the news report.
North
Carolina's smoke-free law goes into effect January 2nd
12/30/09:
The following is from a Channel 14 news report: Most bars and
restaurants in North Carolina will be smoke-free by the end of the week, as the
stateÕs smoking ban goes into effect Jan. 2. This week, many establishments are
making some last-minute preparations to get ready for the new requirements.
"We expect business owners to have posted No Smoking Signs and also have
removed all ash trays from their establishments,Ó said Lovemore Masakadza, who
is with the Mecklenburg County Health Department. The only places exempt are
private, nonprofit clubs, so bars and nightclubs must comply even if they have
membership lists. Corydon Himelberger, general manager of Howl at the
Moon, isnÕt upset about the changes. ÒIt is an employee health right to go to
work and not have smoke blown on you,Ó he said. Click above for full
story.
12/30:
The following is from a Dec. 29th Science Daily news report about a new research study of the above
title: Children regularly exposed to tobacco smoke at home were more likely to
develop early emphysema in adulthood. This finding by researchers at Columbia
University's Mailman School of Public Health suggests that the lungs may not
recover completely from the effects of early-life exposures to tobacco smoke
(ETS). The study is published in the December 2009 American Journal of
Epidemiology. This population-based research is the first to examine
the association of childhood ETS with early emphysema by CT scan in nonsmokers. Approximately half of the participants in this large
multiethnic cohort had at least one regular cigarette smoker in their childhood
home. Participants with more childhood ETS exposure had more emphysema-like
lung pixels; an average of 20% of scan pixels were emphysema-like for those who
lived with two or more smokers as a child, compared with 18% for those who
lived with one regular smoker, or 17% for those who said that they did not live
with a regular inside smoker as a child. [This study highlights the
value of smoke-free policies in homes and multi-unit dwellings.] To access the news story, click above. For a copy
of the abstract of this research, click here.
Smoke-Free
Multi-Unit Housing in Michigan & the Nation: A Decade of Enormous Growth
12/29:
The following is from an end-of-the-year SFELP press release: "As
the first decade of the 21st century ends, we find that the growth in Michigan
and nationally in smoke-free multi-unit housing has been enormous -- going from
virtually no smoke-free housing in 2000 to many hundreds of thousands of units
today," according to Jim Bergman, Co-Director of The Center for Social
Gerontology, Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which operates the Smoke-Free
Environments Law Project (SFELP). "In 2000, it was virtually
impossible to find apartment or condominium buildings that were smoke-free in
all the living units, as well as the common areas. This was true in Michigan and in almost every
state in the nation. By 2005, a number of states, including Michigan,
Maine, Minnesota, and California had begun to develop a growing supply of
smoke-free apartments. By the end of the decade, virtually every state
has smoke-free multi-unit housing available, and many states have thousands, if
not hundreds of thousands, of smoke-free units," said Bergman. ... In public housing, funded by the
federal Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and other federal
and state entities, the growth in smoke-free housing has been equally as great,
if not greater. In 2000, there were only two public housing
authorities in the nation that had smoke-free policies for some or all their
buildings (Kearney, NE and Fort
Pierce, FL). By the end of 2003, just eleven housing authorities had
smoke-free policies. By January, 2005, that number had only risen to
fifteen. But, then the growth sky-rocketed. As of December,
2009, at least 136 public housing authorities in 19 states had adopted
smoke-free policies for some or all their buildings. The growth in the
entire decade was 6700%; since December, 2003, the growth was 1136%; and the
growth in the past 5 years has been over 800%. In Michigan, the Cadillac Housing Commission
was the first public housing authority to adopt a smoke-free policy, doing so
in July, 2005. Today, thirty-two local Michigan housing commissions have
adopted smoke-free policies, covering about 56 apartment buildings/developments
and over 60 townhouses/scattered site units, with about 4,158 apartment units.
That is a 3100% increase in the 48 months since January, 2006. To access
the full press release, click above.
Woman,
62, dies in Quincy fire; Blaze sparked by cigarette; oxygen devices fuel flames
12/28:
The following is from a Dec. 27th Boston Globe report: A woman died yesterday morning in a two-alarm
fire sparked by a cigarette, according to fire officials. Residents of
the city-owned high-rise at 95 Martensen St., which houses elderly, low-income,
and disabled residents, said they had warned 62-year-old Donna Marani not to
smoke in her apartment - especially because she regularly used home oxygen
devices. "She was a smoker," said Jenn Fell, 31, who lives in
the building with her two young sons. "Several people in the building have
warned her about smoking while on oxygen. Smoking can be very dangerous, and
unfortunately everybody lost a really good friend out of this tragedy."
State, local, and Norfolk County officials determined yesterday afternoon
that a cigarette ignited the fire. "The investigation revealed the
cause to be consistent with a smoking-related fire," State Fire Marshal
Stephen D. Coan told the Globe yesterday. "And there was home oxygen in the
apartment." ... While firefighters managed to contain the fire to Marani's
apartment, significant water and smoke damage could be seen throughout the
building yesterday. Cleanup crews were on hand all afternoon. Most residents
were allowed to return home, but more than a dozen from units near MaraniÕs
apartment were being sheltered at a Salvation Army facility, fire officials said. ... Since 1997, 18 people
have died and more than 30 others have been severely burned or suffered serious
smoke inhalation in fires across the state involving people who smoked while
using a home oxygen system, Coan said.
Air is about 21 percent oxygen, but medical tanks are filled with 100
percent oxygen, which can fuel intense flames. "Fires related to
smoking and use of home oxygen have been a great concern of mine for a long
time," Coan said. "We have a group made up of fire service personnel,
members of the medical community, oxygen manufacturers, the Red Cross, and
others focused on a public education campaign to highlight the dangers."
[It should be noted that a no-smoking policy could have prevented this
tragedy.] Click above to access the full report.
12/28:
The following is from a Dec. 13th Holland Sentinel article: A new state law intended to reduce the fire
hazard posed by smoldering cigarettes has frustrated some Michigan smokers, who
complain that the safer cigarettes taste foul. The law, which takes
effect Jan. 1, requires all cigarettes sold in Michigan to be engineered to
automatically extinguish when left unattended. To comply, cigarette companies usually add two or three special bands
to the cigarettes' paper that, when lit, reduce the flow of oxygen to the
tobacco, thereby slowing the stickÕs rate of burn. If a smoker does not
draw on the lit cigarette, the bands effectively smother it. ... Gov. Jennifer
Granholm approved the law in June, making Michigan the 49th state to pass
fire-safe cigarette legislation. The new cigarettes wonÕt end all fires
started by smoking materials, but they will help lower the numbers of deaths
and injuries caused by them, said Ronald Farr, Michigan's Fire Marshal.
"It's a life-safety issue," he said. "That's the single
biggest point for them." Fires caused by smoking-related
materials in Michigan killed four people last year and injured 33 others,
including seven firefighters, according to the state's Bureau of Fire Services.
Nationwide, fires ignited by
cigarettes claimed 780 lives in the United States in 2006, according to the
Massachussetts-based National Fire Protection Association. Click above to
access the full article.
Smoking
ban in Duluth low-income housing promotes health
12/22:
The following is from a Dec. 20th Fox 21 News report: Residents of Duluth high rise buildings will
be living in smoke–free facilities by spring of next year. Last
month, the Duluth Housing and Rehabilitation Authority passed a smoking ban,
effective May of 2010. American Lung Association representatives say the
ban is an attempt to prevent the dangerous effects of second–hand smoke.
Currently, residents at any of the six Duluth high rise, low-income housing
buildings can smoke in their private apartments. Soon, they will have to
leave the building before lighting up. And many non–smoking
residents are pleased. "I think it's a good idea, because second hand
smoke and everything... It's not good for our health," said King Manor
resident, Ann Abrahm. "They have shared ventilation. They have
shared systems. And we know from the Surgeon General's report in 2006 that
there is no safe level exposure to second–hand smoke," said Pat
McKone. McKone is the director for mission programs for the American Lung
Association in Minnesota. Click above to access the full report.
12/18:
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm will sign into law Friday, Dec. 18th,
a ban on indoor smoking in public places. The Legislature passed the bill
Dec. 10 after years of stalemates over exceptions in the law. The measure
allows smoking in three Detroit casinos, cigar bars, specialty tobacco shops,
home offices and motor vehicles, including commercial trucks. The smoking
ban, which takes effect May 1, 2010, makes Michigan the 38th state with a ban.
To access a copy of the new law click above.
12/18:
The World Lung Foundation and the American Cancer Society's third edition
of The Tobacco Atlas is now
online. The Atlas provides
current world data on topics such as tobacco use, secondhand smoke, smoke-free
areas, and tobacco litigation. It also has predictions on the future
tobacco epidemic. To access a copy of the Atlas, click above.
12/17:
University of Michigan School of Public Health Dean Kenneth Warner
discusses the benefits of the new smoking ban passed by the Michigan Senate and
House. You can hear this five-minute Podcast by clicking above.
New
issue of Legal Update is now online
12/17:
The latest issue of the Legal Update,
the newsletter of the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, is now available. This
issue features the Legal Consortium's most recent publication,
"Infiltration of Secondhand Smoke into Condominiums, Apartments and Other
Multi-Unit Dwellings: 2009" written by SFELPÕs consulting attorney Susan
Schoenmarklin. This expanded update of the 2004 law synopsis covers recent
smoke-free housing laws and policies of interest to landlords, condominium
associations and tenants. The Legal Update also includes overviews of recent important tobacco
cases, including a landmark Massachusetts tobacco ruling that allows
"healthy" smokers to sue to force tobacco companies to pay for
medical monitoring to scan for diseases that may develop in the future; a $300
million ruling in the latest individual "Engle progeny" lawsuit against a major tobacco
company; and legal actions related to the new federal tobacco product
legislation. The issue also highlights U.S. and Canadian bans on the
sale, distribution and manufacture of flavored cigarettes, and the World Health
OrganizationÕs tobacco control campaign in Africa. Also featured is
Eric Lindblom in the Profiles in Public Health Law section and the"Ask a
Lawyer" column addresses tobacco-free policies on college campuses.
Finally, links are provided to useful tobacco law-related resources and
information on upcoming tobacco law events. To access the Legal Update, click above.
Editorial:
Lawmakers are standing up
12/16:
According to a Dec. 15th Traverse City Record-Eagle editorial: It's not easy changing public policy
that's as old as dirt, no matter how much good a change will create. And you're
guaranteed to make some unfriends along the way. But two local lawmakers,
four members of the Northwestern Michigan College board of trustees, a Traverse
City Commission majority, Munson Medical Center, the Benzie and Leelanau county
boards of commissioners and hundreds of other public officials have all chose
to ban smoking in virtually all workplaces plus some parks, beaches and
campuses. And now, after years of wrangling the Michigan Legislature
has finally approved a ban on smoking in virtually all workplaces, including
bars and restaurants. State Sen.
Michelle McManus, a Lake Leelanau Republican, and freshman Rep. Dan Scripps, a
Leland Democrat, both voted for a bill that would make virtually all Michigan
workplaces smoke-free as of May. The senate voted 24-13 last week to
approve the bill. The House, which had passed similar bills in recent years,
approved it again, 75-30, also last week. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has said she'll
sign it. ... At last, it seems the will of the people -- more than 70 percent
of state residents have consistently supported a ban -- is being heeded.
Despite all that Big Tobacco money to the contrary. To access the full
editorial, click above.
Colorado
Supreme Court upholds ban of smoking on stage
12/16:
The following is from a Dec. 15th Denver Post article: In the first
decision of its kind, the Colorado Supreme Court on Monday [Dec. 14th]
extinguished hopes that theater actors would be exempted from a statewide
smoking ban after all but one justice voted to uphold lower-court decisions
barring cigarette use in performances. The move ends a three-year
state fight in which a coalition of state and national theater groups argued in
multiple courts that the ban infringed on free-speech rights and interfered
with their abilities to accurately produce plays. Six justices found that regardless of whether
onstage smoking is a form of expression, the ban on smoking in public places is
constitutional because it aims to promote public health rather than stifle free
speech. No other state supreme court has decided a case involving a
free-speech opposition to a state smoking ban, according to attorney A. Bruce
Jones, who said his theater-company clients have not ruled out seeking a U.S.
Supreme Court decision on the topic. Click above for full article.
12/11:
The following is from a Dec. 10th Detroit Free Press report: The House has sent to Gov. Jennifer
Granholm for signing a bill to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and all other
workplaces, but allow smoking on the gaming floors of Detroit's three casinos.
However, the casino bars and restaurants would be no-smoking zones.
The landmark vote followed approval in the Senate on a landmark bill that
anti-smoking advocates have sought for more than a decade, but which was opposed
strenuously by bar and restaurant owners across the state. The smoking
ban would take effect May 1, making Michigan the 38th state with some form of
state ban on smoking in public areas.
"We have heard the message from the people of Michigan," said Rep.
Joan Bauer, D-Lansing, who cited numerous polls showing the Michigan public
supporting a public smoking ban. The Senate voted 24-13 on a compromise
that was led by Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks. The House soon afterward
voted 75-30 to concur with the Senate version, with some House members
applauding as the tally was announced. Jubilant anti-smoking advocates
celebrated with hugs outside of the House chamber after the vote. "This is
huge. We couldn't be more pleased," said Judy Stewart, spokesperson for
the campaign for Smokefree Air. "Michigan is finally going to join
the ranks of smokefree states. It's a historic day." Click above to
access the Free Press article.
According to a Detroit News
report: The House voted 75-30 for the long-awaited measure, which makes
exceptions for the three Detroit casinos, cigar bars, specialty tobacco shops,
home offices and motor vehicles, including commercial trucks. The Senate voted 24-13 for the bill earlier today.
To access the Detroit News
article, click here.
To access a copy of the bill as passed, click here.
States Spending Less
to Fight Smoking
12/11:
The following is from a Dec. 10th New York Times article: State
governments are collecting record revenues from tobacco companies but spending
less and less of it on antismoking programs, especially in New York, a group of
health and advocacy organizations said in a report released Wednesday. In
the report, titled "A Broken Promise to Our Children," the
organizations said state governments had reduced spending by 15 percent, to
$567 million, for smoking prevention and cessation programs in the fiscal year
that ended in September. State spending on antismoking programs accounted
for only 2.3 percent of the more than $25 billion that states are expected to
collect from tobacco taxes and payouts from the $246 billion settlement that
states reached with tobacco companies in 1998, the groups said in their 11th
annual report since the settlement.
"It's a travesty that only a small fraction of tobacco settlement funds is
actually being used to support tobacco prevention programs in states,"
Nancy Brown, chief executive of the American Heart Association -- one of the
groups behind the report -- said in a statement. States are not required
to spend the money on antismoking programs. The National Conference of State
Legislatures reported Wednesday that states had to fill a cumulative budget gap
of $145 billion this year because of unprecedented revenue declines.
States' tobacco-related revenue has grown because 14 states have raised
taxes on tobacco in the recession and the payouts from the 1998 tobacco
settlement increased in 2008. Click above for the full article. To
access the full report, click here.
Two Arkansas housing
authorities adopt smoke-free policies
12/10:
In Arkansas, the Little Rock Housing Authority and the Polk County
Housing Authority have each adopted smoke-free policies for some or all of
their buildings. These are the first two HAs in Arkansas to adopt
smoke-free policies. The Little Rock HA has adopted a smoke-free policy
for all three of its high-rise buildings, with a total of 596 units in three
buildings (428 units in two buildings for persons aged 50 and over, and 168
units of family housing in one building). The Polk County HA adopted a
smoke-free policy for all 182 units of its housing in 6 buildings. Both
HA smoke-free policies go into effect on January 1, 2010. There are now
at least 136 housing authorities in the U.S. with smoke-free policies for some
or all their buildings. to access a list of all these HAs, click above.
EDITORIAL: End Michigan's shame, pass smoking ban
12/10:
The following is from a dec. 8th Detroit Free Press editorial: The Legislature has choked before,
leaving residents and visitors to this fair state still gasping as they
encounter smoke-filled air in public places like restaurants and bars. So
let's review the arguments as lawmakers contemplate one more attempt to limit
smoking in Michigan. ... In a perfect world, lawmakers would not exempt casino
floors -- their workers deserve clean lungs, too -- but after years of
stalemate any significant smoke-free progress would be welcome. Which
leaves the hope that this time, finally, lawmakers won't keep blowing smoke.
Click above for the full editorial.
A Broken Promise to
Our Children: The 1998 State
Tobacco Settlement 11 Years Later
12/9:
The following is from a report released today: Since the November
1998 multi-state tobacco settlement, we have issued annual reports assessing
whether the states are keeping their promise to use a significant portion of
their settlement funds -- estimated at $246 billion over the first 25 years --
to attack the enormous public health problems posed by tobacco use in the
United States. In addition to the billions they receive every year from
the tobacco settlement, the states collect billions more in tobacco taxes. This
latest report, issued December 9, 2009, finds that the states are collecting
record amounts of tobacco revenue -- $25.1 billion this year alone -- but are
spending less of it on programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers
quit. In fact, states have cut funding for tobacco prevention programs by
more than 15 percent in the past year.
Only one state -- North Dakota -- currently funds a tobacco prevention
program at the level recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). Only nine other states fund tobacco prevention at even half
the CDC-recommended level, while 31 states and DC provide less than a quarter
of the recommended funding. [Michigan ranks 48th out the 50 states and
D.C.] This report is issued
by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Heart Association, American
Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association and Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation. Click above
for a fulll copy of the report. For a copy of the chart ranking the
states, click here.
12/8:
The following is from a Dec. 7th Detroit Free Press report: It could be light up or lights out for
a statewide smoking ban this week in the Legislature. Senate Republicans
will take another stab at prohibiting smoking in all workplaces, including
restaurants and bars. But whether to exempt Detroit's casinos remains a key
question. "It's time to get it moving," said Sen. Ron Jelinek,
R-Three Oaks, who is prodding fellow Senate Republicans with a compromise.
That plan would ban smoking in all public places, but possibly allow it
to some extent at the Detroit casino on gaming floors, as well as in cigar
bars. Smoking would be banned at the Detroit casino restaurants and hotels,
possibly answering concerns of bar owners about giving a competitive advantage
to the casinos. Jelinek and others said with only a couple of weeks
before a long holiday break, the Legislature is under pressure to act on an
issue that's been in stalemate for more than a decade. ... The issue resurfaced last week, as Senate
Republicans discussed cracking a long-standing impasse: whether to exempt
Detroit's three casinos and cigar bars from a smoking ban that restaurant and
bar owners generally oppose. Click above for the full article.
Radio
interview in Sault Ste. Marie about smoke-free apartments
12/4:
On Dec. 1st, Julie Trotter of the Chippewa County Health Department and
Jim Bergman of TCSG's Smoke-Free Environments Law Project were interviewed on
Talk Radio 1400 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan concerning the
MISmokeFreeApartment Initiative. This was part of a 3-day series of
events in the eastern Upper Peninsula to promote smoke-free apartment policies
being adopted for market-rate and affordable housing. The prior day
Julie, Jim and Donna Norkoli of the Sault Tribe Community Health Services were
interviewed on WSOO 1230. On Dec. 1st and 2nd, Jim did presentations on
smoke-free housing in Sault Ste. Marie and Manistique. On Nov. 30th, Jim,
Donna and Julie met with the Sault Tribe Housing Authority board to discuss the
possibility of their adopting a smoke-free policy for some or all their
approximately 500 units of housing across the Upper Peninsula. To access a podcast
of the Talk Radio 1400 interview, click above.
Cigarettes
in Michigan to be 'fire-safe'
12/4:
According to a Nov. 29th Muskegon Chronicle article: Local fire officials are hailing a new law
that will require manufacturers sell only self-extinguishing cigarettes in
Michigan as of Jan. 1. The measure is expected to save lives and property
lost to fires started by unattended smoking materials. The move is a big
step forward for fire safety, local fire authorities agree. "It is a
pretty significant issue in this area; It rates right behind cooking-type fires
as far as the frequency of causing fires," said Fruitport Township Fire
Chief Ken Doctor, a smoker himself. "We can't dictate how people
live. This is just one more step in the overall fire safety process.
Because smoking equipment is such a significant portion of our business,
it is definitely going to have an impact." Last year, 319 fires
across the state were reported to have started by cigarettes. Four people were
killed and 33 people injured in those fires, which claimed a total property
loss of nearly $8.5 million, said Terry Fobbs, assistant to the state fire
marshal. Michigan will become the
49th state to adopt laws requiring cigarettes sold here after Jan. 1 to
self-extinguish if left unattended. The measure is part of the Fire Safety
Standard and Firefighter Protection Act, passed by the Michigan Legislature
this summer. According to the United States Fire Administration, states such as
New York that have passed fire-safe cigarette legislation have seen a 33
percent reduction in the number of fire-related deaths and injuries caused by
discarded smoking materials. Click above for the full article.
For Some
Smokers, Even Home Is Off Limits
11/19:
According to a Nov. 15th New York Times article: The movement to ban smoking in New York City
has grown so quickly that no place seems immune -- certainly not restaurants or
bars, and public beaches and parks may not be far behind. Now the efforts are
rapidly expanding into the living room. More landlords are moving to
prohibit smoking in their apartment buildings, telling prospective tenants they
can be evicted if they light up in them.
This month, the Related Companies will ban smoking at some of its
downtown apartment buildings because of health concerns about secondhand smoke,
according to company officials. Smokers who already live in any of these
buildings will not be affected, according to Jeff Brodsky, a president of
Related, which is a national developer with 17 buildings in Manhattan.
But any new renters must promise not to smoke at home, even if they
continue to elsewhere. Kenbar Management, a local developer, is going a
step further. When its new project, 1510 Lexington Avenue, opens in December,
smoking will be banned in all 298 units, in addition to private and shared
terraces. And the typical smoker's refuge -- directly outside the building --
is also off limits; tenants must agree not to smoke on any of the sidewalks
that wrap around the building, which takes up most of a block in East Harlem,
according to Kinne Yon, a Kenbar principal. The trend has predictably
divided smokers and nonsmokers in New York. To access the full article,
click above.
Santa
Monica tenants demand tougher anti-smoking laws
11/12:
According to a Nov. 11th Santa Monica Daily Press article: There are many days warm or cool when the
windows to Mike Horelick's Santa Monica apartment remain shut, keeping out
ocean breezes, the fragrance of a neighbor's dinner and cigarette smoke. It's
the latter that forces the local screenwriter to often seal his home, protecting
his asthmatic 3-year-old daughter and 9-month-old son from the cigarette smoke
that wafts from a neighbor's patio a floor below. "We shut the
doors, we shut the windows, which is pretty inconvenient and not guaranteed to
stop all the smoke anyway," he said. Horelick is part of a group of
residents who are calling on the City Council to expand an ordinance that bans
smoking in all common areas of apartments and condominiums to also apply to
balconies and patios, arguing the current regulations, while a step in the
right direction, don't go far enough. Click above to access the full
article.
Oregon
housing authorities ban indoor smoking
11/6:
According to a Nov. 4th news report: Alan Pape doesnÕt like going into
smokersÕ apartments. But as the maintenance mechanic for the North Bend
City/Coos-Curry Housing Authorities, itÕs part of the job. ... By March, Pape
won't have to worry about nicotine-stained walls or smelling like an ash tray
at the end of the day. The two boards of commissioners for the housing
authorities adopted a no-indoor-smoking policy for the apartments and buildings
they own. The Woodland Apartments Preservation Inc. and Powers Housing Development
Inc. -- apartments managed by the housing authorities -- also passed the same
policy. The agencies provide section 8 and low-income housing in North Bend,
Coos Bay, Myrtle Point, Coquille and Port Orford. Woodland and Powers have
units in Empire and Powers. Ned Beman, the executive director of the Housing
Authorities, said the policy will likely impact 475 residents. He estimated
that about 21 percent smoke. The policy bans smokers from lighting up
inside units or other buildings owned by the agencies. Those who smoke
will be allowed to -- but outside at least 10 feet from a neighbor's
door. It goes into effect on March 1. ... The housing authority boards have
been mulling the possibility for a few years, but began seriously discussing it
in September, after receiving a notice from the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development that urged housing authorities to adopt such policies. Beman said the boards unanimously passed the policy
because they felt doing so would protect employees' health, reduce costs of
preparing vacant units for rent and even the playing field for Section 8
residents who already abide by similar policies. The boards took public comment
for 30 days. Those who wrote in convinced the boards to drop a proposed 25-foot
smoking distance to 10 feet, but otherwise there were few complaints and some
positive comments, the director said. Cleaning up a smokerÕs apartment --
depending on the extent of the smoke damage -- can cost up to an extra $1,000
in primer coating, paint and man hour, Beman said. And often, those units still
don't smell good. Click above for the full article.
Ontario
apartment building going smoke-free
11/6:
Russell Chandler has smoked for more than 50 years, but he is willing to curb
his habit to be more neighbourly. He is one of approximately 90 tenants
of the South Chatham Village Apartments who will have to adapt to a smoking ban
coming effect at the apartment complex, Jan 1, 2010. "There's no
hard feelings that they're doing that," Chandler said. Martin
Vanderzwan, chairman of the apartment's board of directors, said the smoking
ban has been motivated by reducing the risk of fire and reducing the known
health effects of secondhand smoke. He said most of the residents
responded to a survey on implementing the ban. "It was almost
unanimous that we should have a nonsmoking policy," Vanderzwan said.
There are 67 units in the building, including seven or eight units
occupied by smokers, he said.
Vanderzwan said a meeting was held with tenants where there was good dialogue
and "we came to the conclusion that they're ready for something like
this." He added the tenants who smoke agreed with the ban if the
secondhand smoke bothers people. Vanderzwan said the ban will only apply
to tenants moving into the building in the New Year who sign a new lease with
the smoking ban clause included. The ban prohibits tenants, guests and service
people from smoking in any area of the property, including both private and
common areas, whether enclosed or outdoors. Smokers currently living in
the building will be allowed to smoke inside their apartments only with windows
and patio doors closed. Nick Davidovich, Chatham- Kent's tobacco enforcement
officer, said he's heard of a few other apartment buildings implementing a
no-smoking policy. He added the City of Waterloo recently passed a bylaw making
their public housing smoke-free. "It's kind of a movement happening in
Ontario towards this," Davidovich said. Click above for the full
article.
Cigarette
smoke wafting onto neighbor's patio brings lawsuit
11/6:
The following is from a Nov. 5th news article: This is the story of two
neighbors and a dispute over secondhand smoke in the Sacramento suburb of El
Dorado Hills. ... A California couple has filed a lawsuit seeking relief from
their next-door neighbor's second-hand cigarette smoke. Richard and Donna
Ganguet were the first to move into a gated community for people age 55 and
older. That was 2006. Today, they claim the cigar and cigarette smoke wafts
into their yard from the property of neighbor has caused an intolerable
situation. They've tried dispersing the smoke, first with a small fan
(which didn't work) and then by renting an industrial fan (which was noisy, and
they didn't want to disturb other neighbors). They say they no longer sit on
their patio and try to sandwich in swims in the side-yard lap pool between
their neighbors' smoking sessions. The neighbor is Florence Solone. Her
son, his sister and brother-in-law all live with Mrs. Solone and they smoke
outdoors because, "My mother doesn't allow smoking in the house."
He also says he didn't know the smoke was a problem until his mother
learned of the lawsuit, which was filed last month. Click above for the
full article.
10/30:
The following is from an Oct. 26th Los Angeles Times editorial: Introduced in the United States two
years ago, electronic cigarettes are no longer a novelty item but a popular
option for many smokers -- especially those who want to quit. Inhaling on the
cigarette-shaped device activates a built-in battery, which heats up a mixture
of water, nicotine and propylene glycol to give the "smoker" a vapor
hit of the addictive substance found in cigarettes -- but without the smoke. It
even lights up at the other end, mimicking the tip of a cigarette. E-cigarettes
are the latest of a wave of nicotine-packing products -- including bottled water
and lollipops -- to face the wrath of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The agency believes it has the authority to regulate them. But marketers of the electronic devices, most of
which are made in China, are putting up a big fight. They have sued, arguing
that the FDA has no jurisdiction over their merchandise because, unlike
nicotine patches or gum, which the agency does regulate, it is not a
smoking-cessation product. They also deny the FDA's contention that
e-cigarettes are a drug-delivery device, which the agency also regulates.
In their zeal to avoid regulation, though, spokesmen for this
fast-growing business have been engaging in doublespeak. They argue that
e-cigarettes are just a "smoking alternative," and in the same breath
tout their superiority over gum or patches as a way to divert smokers from
tobacco products. ... The agency wants sales of the devices halted until, as
with other drug products, animal studies and clinical trials determine whether
they are indeed safe. We agree. A
check of Internet chat sites shows that the devices are regularly used by
smokers trying to quit tobacco. Should the courts rule against the FDA,
Congress will have to step in. With the ever-expanding peddling of nicotine in
the United States, the public needs federal oversight of attempts to advance an
addictive drug. Click above to access the full editorial.
Canadian
National Conference on Tobacco or Health runs Nov. 1-4, 2009
10/30:
The Program Committee of the Canadian National Conference on Tobacco or
Health is developing a dynamic program to present the latest evidence, research
findings, programs, and activities in Canadian tobacco control and around the
world. More information will be posted as plans progress. The plenary and
symposia sessions will explore the critical elements of tobacco controlÕs
future, while the concurrent sessions will probe key issues including plain
packaging, retail reform, Bill C-32, new products, new frontiers in second-hand
smoke, industry litigation, contraband and the implication of new nicotine
addiction research and the use of NRTÕs in cessation. There will be
two sessions on smoke-free multi-unit housing (SF MUDS), and this topic will be
touched on in a couple of other sessions. To see the draft program, click above.
Rep. Lori works on
Michigan smoking ban
10/29:
According to an Oct. 27th WLKM report: State Rep. Matt Lori is
working with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers to figure out a new strategy
for getting a smoking ban signed into law. Earlier this year, the House
approved legislation to ban smoking in most public places, including bars and
restaurants, but that plan has since stalled in the Senate because it exempts
casino gambling floors, cigar bars and tobacco shops from the proposed ban.
Senate leaders have repeatedly said they will only support a total ban,
so as not to create an unfair competitive advantage for some businesses over
others. Last year, the Senate approved a total smoking ban, but that plan fell
six votes short in the House. "It seems pretty clear the Senate
is only willing to support a total ban, no exemptions, and I think we have
enough support for a total ban in the House, so that's the direction I think we
are going to go," said Lori, of Constantine. The first-term lawmaker said he is hopeful a
vote will happened before the end of the year. Click above for the full
report.
10/28:
A review in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reveals that
Imperial Tobacco Canada attempted to destroy documents that contained
high-quality scientific evidence that cigarette smoke was carcinogenic and
addictive. These studies had significant implications for government
tobacco-control programs. This is the opening analysis of the 60
scientific reports dating from 1967 to 1984. They were destroyed in Canada in
1992 but stored at British American Tobacco headquarters in the United Kingdom.
"The research standards of the studies reported in the destroyed documents
was equal to and, in many cases, exceeded the standards of peer-reviewed
scientific research published during the same period," explains Dr. David
Hammond, University of Waterloo, and coauthors. "The destroyed documents
reveal a vast body of scientific evidence on the health effects of
smoking." On September 28, 2009, the province of Ontario launched
a $50 billion lawsuit against Imperial Tobacco. In addition, British Columbia
and New Brunswick have also filed lawsuits against the company. Several of the destroyed documents report the
carcinogenic components of tobacco smoke and describe testing for differences
between tobacco brands (which differed little in their carcinogenic activity).
Other studies considered the effect of filters. ... A total of eleven of the
destroyed documents focused on original research about the effects of
second-hand smoke. Most of the experiments were performed on rats. These
studies indicated cellular changes from second-hand smoke. The authors write:
"The scientists concluded that second-hand smoke was in fact more toxic
than mainstream smoke "especially for low delivery cigarettes.""
Click above for full news report.
Wynn
Las Vegas sued by workers for second hand smoke risk
10/27:
The following is from an Oct. 22nd Las Vegas Examiner article: Lawyers for casino employees of Wynn Las
Vegas have filed a class action suit citing the negative health effects of
second hand smoke exposure. This is the second high profile casino employee
group to file suit against employers and follows a similar action by workers at
Caesar's Palace (a Harrah's property) which filed litigation proceedings this
past July. The Kamber Edelson law firm from Chicago is involved in the
litigation of both groups and suits. The suit alleges that chronic
employee exposure to second hand smoke leads to an array of ill-health symptoms
including eye irritation, coughing, sore throat, wheezing, asthma, headaches,
and ingestion of carcinogenic toxins and chemicals. Further, the legalese in
the suit includes evidence of measures taken by some Vegas casinos (eg Bellagio
and Palazzo) to reduce exposure to smoke by employees. As pointed out in
a previous Las Vegas Examiner article , casinos everywhere have always resisted
smoking bans in their establishments because of the high correlation of
gambling, gamblers, and smoking. They've resisted it because they expected such
bans to negatively effect revenues and their bottom lines. The fact that there
are numerous smoking bans in other public gathering venues and not in casinos
is a direct testament to casino ownership and management's power and political
influence, particularly in Las Vegas. Click above for the full article.
10/23:
On October 20th, the Charlevoix Housing Commission adopted a smoke-free policy
for its 62-unit Pine River Place apartments for the elderly and disabled.
The policy went into effect immediately for all new residents and current
residents who are not smokers, as well as guests and staff. Current
residents who are smokers are exempted from the policy for as long as they live
in their current unit. Under this new policy, secondhand smoke and other
damage caused by smoking or tobacco products will not be considered ordinary
wear and tear, and some or all of the resident's security deposit may be
retained by the housing commission to cover costs of damage caused by smoking
or tobacco products; damage above and beyond the amount of the security deposit
may be billed to the resident. Further, it is the resident's responsibility
to take steps to keep smoking residue from building up in units, including more
frequent cleaning and wall washing, etc. Annual inspections of units will
be utilized to ensure that apartment residents are following this part of the
policy. Charlevoix becomes the 32nd public housing commission in
Michigan to adopt a smoke-free policy. It has been our pleasure working with Rob Harrison, the Executive
Director of the Charlevoix Housing Commission on this policy. Charlevoix
is a located in northern Michigan on Lake Michigan, and is known as
"Charlevoix the beautiful". The 32 Michigan housing commissions
with smoke-free policies have about 56 apartment buildings/developments and
over 60 townhouses/scattered site units. A total of at least 4,158
apartment units are covered by the local Michigan housing authority smoke-free
policies. More are in the pipeline. There are now at least 129 housing
authorities in the U.S. with smoke-free policies for some or all their
buildings. To access a copy of the list of 129 housing authorities in the
U.S. that have adopted smoke-free policies for some or all their buildings,
click above.
Institute
of Medicine report concludes smoke-free laws prevent heart attacks
10/23:
The Institute of Medicineon October 15th released its long-awaited report
concluding that secondhand smoke causes heart attacks, while smoke-free laws
prevent heart attacks and save lives. The report also finds compelling evidence
that even relatively brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart
attacks. This report makes the case for smoke-free laws to the media,
policy makers and other audiences. It demonstrates why states and
localities that have yet to enact comprehensive laws should do so quickly; why
those that still have loopholes in their laws should close them; why those
currently implementing laws should make sure they are effectively implemented
and strongly enforced; and why states and localities that have passed and
effectively implemented comprehensive laws have done the right thing to protect
health and save lives. The IOM's materials can be found by clicking
above.
More
Apartment Owners Using No-Smoking Strategies
10/23:
Warren Nisley liked the "green" features of the new Morgan at
Loyola Station in Rogers Park when he was apartment hunting. The
mixed-use building near Loyola University Chicago has 152 apartments, is near
public transportation and boasts eco-friendly features such as water-saving
fixtures and efforts to improve internal air quality with low-gas-emitting
paints and a no-smoking policy for all residents and guests. The smoke-free
environment wasn't the only criterion for deciding to live in the building, but
it was part of a package that Nisley, 52, found appealing. "I'm more
sensitive to second-hand smoke than I used to be," said the system
architect for Orbitz, the travel Web site. "I don't disapprove of
smoking, but I like the fact that there will be none." "We
decided to design the building according to LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) standards to promote a healthy environment and
lifestyle," said Pamela Austin, project manager of development for
McCaffery Interests, owner of the Morgan. "No smoking seemed like a
logical extension of that." Opened in May, the Morgan, 1209 W.
Arthur Ave., is not the only new apartment building hanging out a no-smoking sign.
AMLI 900, a 24-story rental building at 900 S. Clark St. in the South Loop,
also bans smoking by residents and guests. ... The number of leases with
no-smoking clauses has been growing in recent years, said Maurice Ortiz,
marketing director for Apartment People, a finding service that operates from
the Loop to Evanston. Still,
no-smoking listings are no more than 10 to 15 percent of his firm's total.
"More owners would like to establish smoke-free policies," he
said, but "the market is just too competitive. The current supply of
apartments in Chicago far exceeds the demand and, therefore, forces owners to
be more flexible with their policies and restrictions." McCaffery
and AMLI executives disagree. They contend going smoke-free is a
quality-of-life amenity, a competitive advantage in some cases, thanks to
changing attitudes about health and the environment. Click above for the full article.
10/19:
On October 13th, the Monroe Housing Commission voted unanimously (5 to 0)
to formally adopt a smoke-free policy for all their buildings; earlier, on
September 8th, the board had voted to go smoke-free, but did not have the
formal language of the policy before them. The policy is to go into
effect November 1, 2009 for all residents, including current residents who are
smokers. The housing commission
has a 7-story, 148 unit, high-rise for elderly and disabled (River Park Plaza),
and a 115-unit family housing building (Greenwood), plus 30 single family
houses; a total of 293 units. The policy will allow smoking outdoors, but only
in designated areas, if any. It was a great pleasure working with Nancy
Wain, the Executive Director of the Monroe Housing Authority on this.
Adoption of this policy makes Monroe the 31st housing commission in
Michigan to adopt a smoke-free policy and the 125th in the nation. To
access a copy of the list of 125 housing authorities in the U.S. that have
adopted smoke-free policies for some or all their buildings, click above.
Tobacco
products to be tamped out by 2011 on University of Montana campus
10/19:
According to an Oct. 13th article in the Montana Kaimin newspaper: The University of Montana is on its way to
becoming a tobacco-free campus by fall 2011. The UM president's office endorsed
a timeline for phasing in policy starting this semester, according to UM
Executive Vice President Jim Foley. The first phase includes sending
questionnaires to faculty and staff, because students were already surveyed.
The ASUM Senate passed a resolution supporting the plan last Wednesday.
However, it's not a "take it or leave it" plan, Foley said. The
steps leading to completion in 2011 will give everyone the opportunity to talk
about an issue that should be discussed, he said. Julee Stearns, UM health
promotion specialist and chair of the UM Tobacco Task Force that drafted the
plan, said that as of Oct. 2, there are at least 322 smoke-free campuses and
172 tobacco-free campuses nationwide.
Montana Tech will also be completely tobacco-free in July 2010. The tobacco-free
plan, drafted at the request of UM President George Dennison, aims to ensure
the campus environment is healthy and accessible for everyone, Stearns said.
Stearns said 76 percent of UM students surveyed reported that they
encountered more second-hand smoke on campus than in any other location.
Another 71 percent support restricting tobacco use on campus and over 90
percent think it is important to address tobacco use on campus, she said.
Click above for full article.
Waterloo
Region, Ontario adopts smoke-free policy for affordable housing
10/9:
Historic news from the Waterloo Region of Ontario. On October 6th,
the Community Services Committee of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo
(which includes the cities/townships of Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge,
Wellesley, North Dumfries, Wilmot, and Woolwich) voted to approve a smoke-free
policy for all buildings and property of "regionally owned community
housing" in the Waterloo Region. The policy covers about 2,700 units
of "social housing", also known as "affordable or low and
moderate income housing". The Waterloo Region Housing manages 2,591
community housing units owned by the Region of Waterloo, many of which are
elderly and disabled housing. These units are located in Kitchener,
Cambridge, Waterloo, Woolwich and Wellesley. The new policy will receive
final approval at the October 14th Regional Council meeting, and the approval
is certain since the Community Services Committee that voted on October 6th is
a committee of the whole of the Regional Council. The new policy is
historic because it is the first such public housing policy in Ontario and only
the second in all of Canada. With over 2,700 units, it is also
constitutes one of the largest impact policies in the country. The policy says that all new leases signed by
residents after April 1, 2010 will include a provision saying that no smoking
will be allowed inside their units or in common areas, and outdoor smoking by
the resident will be restricted to at least 5 meters away from any windows,
entrances or exits to the building. Ontario provincial laws prevent
the smoke-free policy from applying to current residents. Therefore, the
buildings covered will have to transition to being fully smoke-free over time,
as current smokers move out. Notwithstanding the
"grandfathering" of current smokers, this is a very important victory
and will, undoubtedly, serve as a catalyst for other governmental units across
Canada to also adopt smoke-free policies. The push for this policy began
with resident complaints of secondhand smoke intrusions into apartment units.
In the spring of this year,
representatives of the Waterloo Region Housing Division and the Tobacco Program
of the Region of Waterloo Public Health, together with tenants and the legal
department, conducted a detailed study of the matter, met with residents,
conducted resident surveys, and produced a report which was presented to the
Community Services Committee. Among the key players in this process were:
Mary Sehl, Manager of Tobacco Programs for the Region of Waterloo Public
Health; Irwin Peters, Manager of Waterloo Region Housing; and Laurie Nagge, Public
Health Nurse in the Tobacco Program. Many others were also deeply
involved in this victory, including Pippa Beck of the Non-Smokers Rights
Association, and other tobacco control leaders across Ontario and Canada.
Jim Bergman of the Smoke-Free Environments Law Project of The Center for
Social Gerontology, Inc. had the pleasure to have also worked with the Waterloo
Region folks, and he was invited to speak at the October 6th hearing, together
with Brian King of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY. The
agenda for the meeting, with a link to the smoke-free housing report, can be
accessed by clicking above.
HUD's
ECO-WISE, September, 2009 newsletter focuses on smoke-free housing
10/9:
The HUD Eco-Wise newsletter for September has its lead story "HUD
Encourages PHAs to Become Smoke-Free". The article describes the HUD
Notice issued on July 17th which strongly encourages public housing authorities
(PHAs) to adopt smoke-free policies for their buildings. This very
important Notice was a very strong statement from HUD to PHAs that HUD affirms
that such smoke-free policies are legal and that it make great sense from a
health perspective and as a way of reducing maintenance costs to PHAs. To
access the article, in pdf format, click above.
Nevada
Supreme Court: Smoking ban constitutional, minus criminal sanctions
10/1:
According to a Sept. 24th Las Vegas Sun report: The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled that
a voter-approved ban on smoking in such places as schools and indoor places of
employment was constitutional. But the court held that the criminal
sanctions could not be imposed because the language was vague. Voters in
2006 approved a change in the law to ban smoking in such places as schools and
indoor places of employment. But the law exempted gaming areas in casinos,
stand-alone bars, strip clubs and brothels. The passage was immediately
challenged by businesses including Flamingo Paradise Gaming, TerribleÕs Hotel
and Casino, the Nevada Tavern Owners Association and Cardivan Corporation.
Clark County District Judge Douglas Herndon ruled the law was
unconstitutionally vague for criminal enforcement. But it survived the test for
civil enforcement. Chief Justice James Hardesty, who wrote the majority
Supreme Court opinion, said the criminal portion of the law failed to provide
sufficient notice of what conduct is prohibited and it allows for arbitrary
enforcement. Click above for the full article.
HUD's
Non-Smoking Policy Notice for Public Housing Could Stamp Out Tobacco for Good
9/30:
The following is from a news note on the web site of the American
Association of Homes & Services for the Aging (AAHSA): Public and Indian housing authorities
are permitted and "strongly" encouraged to implement non-smoking
policies -- including smoking cessation at lease renewal -- the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced July 17, 2009, signaling that
an agencywide shift toward smoke-free federally assisted housing may be in the
offing. AAHSA views this as an encouraging development given that, as
HUD noted, elderly populations -- which make up 15 percent of the residents
living in public housing -- are especially vulnerable to the adverse effects of
smoking. Even though HUD's notice
only applies to public and Indian housing, it's possible that HUD's multifamily
office could follow suit with similar guidance. Until that time, the PIH
notice provides guidance that can be helpful for providers interested in having
smoke free environments in senior housing. Environmental Tobacco Smoke,
officials said, can migrate between multifamily housing units, causing
respiratory illness, heart disease, cancer and other ill effects. Fire is
another concern. Federal data show that in multifamily buildings, 26 percent of
fire deaths in 2005 were smoking-related -- the leading cause of fire deaths.
"By reducing the public health risks associated with tobacco use,
this notice will enhance the effectiveness of the Department's efforts to
provide increased public health protection for residents of public
housing," HUD said. PHAs have wide latitude to stamp out smoking, as
long as they stay within state and local laws, HUD said. More than 114 PHAs and
housing commissions around the country have gone non-smoking in one or more
apartment buildings so far, according to the Smoke-Free Environments Law
Project at The Center for Social Gerontology, a Michigan-based organization
that keeps a running tally of smoke-free policies in public housing. With
this new notice, there could be a broad proliferation of non-smoking public
housing policies around the country.
Click above to access the AAHSA note.
Waterloo,
Ontario region considers smoking ban in public housing after residents'
complaints
9/29:
The following is from a September 26th The Record article: Complaints from tenants about
second-hand smoke have prompted Waterloo Region to consider banning smoking in
their multi-unit dwellings. "In general, I would support some kind of
restrictions with respect to second-hand smoke" said Coun. Sean
Strickland, chair of regional council's community services committee, which
oversees regional housing. A report on the issue is slated to be before
regional council next month. ... While provincial laws ban smoking in common
areas of apartment and condominium buildings, they do not prohibit smoking in
private units. Canadian courts have recognized the need to protect
non-smokers from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, the regional report
said. Recently, some residential tribunals have ruled that second-hand smoke
seeping into a tenant's home constitutes an unreasonable disturbance and
ordered remedies ranging from repairs to buildings to permission to break
leases. And many landlords in Ontario have included no-smoking clauses in
new tenancy agreements, the report said. About 80 American public housing
organizations have adopted smoke-free policies; and more Canadian
municipalities, like the City of Hamilton, are getting on board. Click above to
access the full article.
Smoking
bans 'cut heart attacks'
9/23:
According to a Sept. 21st BBC article: Bans on smoking in public
places have had a bigger impact on preventing heart attacks than ever expected,
data shows. Smoking bans cut the number of heart attacks in Europe and
North America by up to a third, two studies report. This "heart
gain" is far greater than both originally anticipated and the 10% figure
recently quoted by England's Department of Health. The studies appear in
two leading journals - Circulation
and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Heart attacks in the UK alone affect an
estimated 275,000 people and kill 146,000 each year. Earlier this month
it was announced that heart attack rates fell by about 10% in England in the
year after the ban on smoking in public places was introduced in July 2007 -
which is more than originally anticipated. But the latest work, based
on the results of numerous different studies collectively involving millions of
people, indicated that smoking bans have reduced heart attack rates by as much
as 26% per year. Dr James Lightwood,
of the University of California at San Francisco, led the Circulation study
that pooled together 13 separate analyses. His team found that heart
attack rates across Europe and North America started to drop immediately
following implementation of anti-smoking laws, reaching 17% after one year,
then continuing to decline over time, with a 36% drop three years after
enacting the restrictions. Dr Lightwood said: "While we obviously
won't bring heart attack rates to zero, these findings give us evidence that in
the short-to-medium-term, smoking bans will prevent a lot of heart attacks.
"This study adds to the already strong evidence that second-hand
smoke causes heart attacks, and that passing 100% smoke-free laws in all workplaces
and public places is something we can do to protect the public." To
access the full article, click above.
Distance
Rule Set for Smoking at Rockville, Maryland Playgrounds
9/16:
The following is from a Sept. 15th Washington Post article: Rockville officials are planning friendly
little signs. Maybe something like: "Children at Play -- Please
Smoke 40 Feet Away From the Playground." That's no nanny-state overreach,
they insist. It's about as slight an inconvenience as the city can muster.
"We're really not asking them to go too far out of their way," said
Burt Hall, Rockville's director of recreation and parks. The city
council voted Monday night to ban lighting up near playgrounds in city parks. Rockville's park advisory board had unanimously
endorsed the plan, which sprang from a few complaints. Even tighter
rules may be on the way. Some
residents had pushed for a total ban on smoking in parks, a concept also
floated Monday by a top health official in New York City. That idea was not
voted on Monday, but most on the council said they would be open to considering
a broader ban later. "We're supposed to be outdoors being healthy,
not smoking or spreading secondhand smoke to others," Mayor Susan R.
Hoffmann said. The playground proposal emerged from fertile territory for
smoking bans. Montgomery County's restaurant smoking ban, which took effect in
2003, was touted as a trendsetter, and Montgomery College bans the use of all
tobacco products on campus, even in private cars. In Rockville, smoking is
banned at a dog park. "It wasn't a huge groundswell. We didn't hear
from hundreds of people. We heard from three. It was a good idea. It's actually
a no-brainer," Hall said. "Secondhand smoke is proven dangerous. It's
also obnoxious." Click above for full article.
Boise City/Ada County
Housing Authority becomes 3rd Idaho housing authority to go smoke-free
9/15:
The Boise City/Ada County Housing Authority (BCACHA) has adopted a
smoke-free policy for all of its 3 buildings, with 214 units of elderly,
disabled and family housing. The policy will be effective on November 1,
2009. Idaho is taking a real lead on smoke-free multi-unit housing for
low-income people. Together with the Nampa Housing Authority and the
Caldwell Housing Authority, I believe they now have their three biggest housing
authorities in Idaho all with smoke-free policies for all their housing.
Nampa was first in the fall of 2007, and Caldwell followed on January 1,
2009. Congratulations to all the Idaho folks who worked on this. WeÕre
pleased to have been able to play a small part in this. To access the
BCACHA web site click above. To access our listing of smoke-free housing
authorities, click here.
New
York City Seeks Ban on Smoking in Parks and Beaches
9/15:
The following is from a Sept. 14th New York Times report: When New York City's smoking ban took
effect in 2003, cigarette and cigar puffers were driven outdoors. But
soon the outdoors -- or at least much of it -- may no longer be an option. The
city's health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, announced on Monday that the
Bloomberg administration would seek to ban smoking in city parks and beaches. Such bans are rare but not unprecedented. A
number of municipalities have banned smoking in outdoor parks, playgrounds and
beaches. In 2007, Los Angeles prohibited smoking in its city parks in 2007, and
Chicago banned smoking along its beachfront and in parks with playgrounds and
play lots. This year, California lawmakers took up a measure to prohibit
smoking in state parks and beaches. The proposed ban on smoking was
contained on Page 10 of a 41-page document [pdf], "Take Care New York
2012," that put forth health policy goals for the next three years, but it
quickly became the focus of attention on Monday. Dr. Farley said the
proposal -- which may require the approval of the City Council -- was part of a
broader strategy to further curb smoking rates, which have plummeted in much of
the city in recent years. The strategy would, among other things, include
increasing local, state and federal taxes on tobacco and urging organizations
and businesses in the city to reject financing and sponsorship from the tobacco
industry. The smoking rate in New
York City fell to 16.9 percent in 2007 from 21.5 percent in 2002, the year the
city enacted a ban on workplace smoking. The proposal to ban smoking in
parks and beaches drew praise from public health advocates and criticism from
one of the nation's biggest tobacco manufacturers. Click above for the
full article.
COMMENTARY: Say yes to more tobacco taxes
9/14:
The following is from an Op-Ed piece in the Sept. 11th Detroit Free
Press by Univ. of Michigan professor
Ken Warner: Gov. Jennifer GranholmÕs budget plan includes a tax increase on
cigarettes and other tobacco products. These tax changes are reasonable and
strongly supported by voters. ... Raising tobacco taxes will generate needed
revenue for Michigan, and a portion of that revenue should be used to fund
tobacco prevention and to help people quit. Studies in other states show that
investing in tobacco prevention simultaneously improves health and saves money.
For example, between 1989 – when the state-funded California tobacco
prevention program began – and 2004, the tobacco program saved $86
billion in health care costs while the state spent $1.8 billion on the program,
for a nearly 50-1 return on investment. Gov. Granholm proposed a 25-cent
increase in the cigarette tax and a doubling of the tax on other tobacco
products. While these increases would reap health and economic benefits, a more
significant increase would have a larger impact on both the publicÕs health and
the health of the budget. A 50-cent cigarette tax increase would raise $108
million in new annual revenue, while equalizing the tax on other tobacco
products would raise another $59 million. In addition, a 50-cent increase in the
price of cigarettes would prevent 48,600 of Michigan's children from becoming
smokers. Equalizing other tobacco taxes with a $2.50 cigarette tax would reduce
youth tobacco use by almost half. Click above for the full Op-Ed piece.
9/11:
On September 8th, the Monroe Housing Commission voted unanimously (5 to
0) to adopt a smoke-free policy for all their buildings. The policy is to
go into effect November 1, 2009 for all residents, including current residents
who are smokers. The housing commission has a 7-story, 148 unit,
high-rise for elderly and disabled (River Park Plaza), and a 115-unit family
housing building (Greenwood), plus 30 single family houses; a total of 293
units. The policy will allow smoking outdoors, but only in designated
areas, if any. It was a great pleasure working with Nancy Wain, the
Executive Director of the Monroe Housing Authority on this. Adoption of
this policy makes Monroe the 31st housing commission in Michigan to adopt a
smoke-free policy and the 125th in the nation. To access a copy of the
list of 125 housing authorities in the U.S. that have adopted smoke-free
policies for some or all their buildings, click above.
Leelanau,
Benzie workplaces to go smoke-free
9/8:
According to a Sept. 4th Traverse City Record-Eagle article: Leaders in Leelanau and Benzie
counties made their communities' indoor workplaces smoke-free. The law is
a welcome change that will prevent public exposure to dangerous second-hand
smoke, some believe, while others suggest the new law infringes on free enterprise
and individual choice. The new regulation does not impact bars, restaurants,
tobacco shops and tribal casinos and will become effective Nov. 16. "I think it's a great idea," said Ed
Beuerle, owner of Northern Lumber Company in Suttons Bay. Smoking already
is forbidden at his business, primarily because there is "a lot of lumber
laying around," he said, but it's good policy for all businesses.
"It's more healthy for employees working in the stores and for
customers. If people want to smoke, they can walk outside and smoke,"
Beuerle said. The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners approved the measure
last month and Benzie County leaders did the same in July. Click above to
acess the full article.
Kansas
Governor Parkinson to push for statewide smoking ban and may seek increase in
cigarette tax
9/4:
According to a Sept. 1st Lawrence Journal-World article: Gov. Mark Parkinson on Tuesday said he
would push for a statewide ban on smoking in public places when the Legislature
convenes in January, and he may propose increasing the cigarette tax.
"We are going to put our full effort behind it," Parkinson said
of the smoking ban. His comment, made during a speech to the Governor's Council
on Fitness, drew applause. Andrew Allison, acting director of the Kansas
Health Policy Authority, said he was pleased to hear of Parkinson's support of
a clean indoor air law. Click above for the full article.
9/2:
The latest issue of the Legal Update, the newsletter of the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium, is now
available. This issue features three new publications from the
Consortium, two of which address questions you may have about the landmark
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which President Obama signed
into law June 22, 2009. The first publication describes key provisions of
the new legislation; the second describes how the new law is likely to impact
tobacco control measures state and local governments can take now that the FDA
will regulate tobacco products and tobacco product marketing. Our third new
publication is an expansion and update of Legal Authority to Regulate
Smoking and Common Threats and Challenges: 2009, written by Cheryl Sbarra, J.D., author of our 2004
synopsis. The Legal Update also features items on a few significant tobacco lawsuits, including
the latest in e-cigarette litigation, a federal class action lawsuit against
CaesarÕs Palace casino over worker exposure to secondhand smoke, and an
employment case involving a worker who was fired for smoking off the job.
We include an Ask A Lawyer piece by SFELP's Jim Bergman on smoking in
public housing, and items on recent smoke-free laws in Brazil and Taiwan.
We also introduce a new Profiles in Public Health Law feature, which
showcases individuals with distinguished careers and records of accomplishments
in public health law; SFELP's Cliff Douglas is featured. Finally, we
provide links to useful tobacco law-related resources and information on
upcoming tobacco law events. To access the Legal Update, click above.
SMOKE-FREE
PUBLIC HOUSING: IT'S LEGAL,
PROFITABLE & HUD SUPPORTS IT
8/28:
On August 26, 2009 at the Texas Housing Association Annual Conference in
Fort Worth, SFELP Director Jim Bergman gave a presentation of the above title.
The presentation focused on smoke-free policies in public housing, with special
attention to the HUD notice issued on July 17, 2009 in which HUD strongly
encouraged public housing authorities (PHAs) to adopt smoke-free policies for
some or all their buildings. Included in the 56-slide PowerPoint presentation
was additional information on ways in which HUD was now encouraging PHAs to
adopt smoke-free policies, including in their 2009 Healthy Homes Strategic Plan
and in their scoring for the award of HUD stimulus funds to PHAs. Also
included in the presentation was information on the cost savings and fire
prevention reasons for adopting smoke-free policies, as well as demographic and
marketing reasons for doing so. Examples were provided of public housing
and other affordable housing entities that have adopted smoke-free policies, as
well as housing industry trends. To access the 56-slide PowerPoint
presentation, click above. To access a pdf copy of the presentation, with
6-slides per page, click on here. To access a
copy of the HUD July 17, 2009 Notice click here.
Neighbor
sues over secondhand smoke; Woman with sick child says cigarette smoke comes
through vents
8/6:
According to an August 5th story in the New york City Metro: Christie Ewen's neighbor is a smoker whose
secondhand smoke come through the vents and she's suing him to make him stop.
"We have to keep the windows open," Ewen said. "In the
winter it's impossible. In the summer we get mosquitoes." Ewen, 38,
says her 3-year-old daughter has respiratory problems and cigarette smoke keeps
the family up at night in their $2 million Tribeca condo. "It's a
common complaint, but not a common lawsuit," said David Kaminsky, a
Manhattan real estate lawyer not involved with the case. The neighbor
could not be reached for comment yesterday. Ewen failed to rally the two-thirds
of the 250 apartments she needed to make 200 Chambers Street a smoke-free
building. While apartment life spawns complaints, it has also bred
respect for peopleÕs right to behave as they want within the law.
"It's my domain, my castle," said smoker Hector Fonseca, 50, of
Staten Island. "I should be able to do what I want in private."
"People can't play music after 10. You can't cure fish in your
home," Ewen said. "There are rules." To access the
story, click above.
HUD
issues notice strongly encouraging public housing agencies to adopt smoke-free
policies
8/6:
On July 17th, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) issued a Notice (PIH-2009-21 (HA)) titled "Non-Smoking Policies in
Public Housing". The notice stated that HUD "strongly
encourages Public housing Authorities (PHAs) to implement non-smoking policies
in some or all of their public housing units." The notice goes on to
encourage PHAs to adopt smoke-free policies in their buildings, including in
common areas and in individual units. The HUD notice describes the health
problems associated with secondhand smoke and also points out the additional
costs to PHAs of rehabbing units in which smokers have lived. This is an
extremely important statement by HUD and is likely to encourage many more PHAs
to adopt smoke-free policies. Already about 120 PHAs have adopted smoke-free
policies for some or all their buildings. To access the HUD notice on the
SFELP site, click above.
7/13:
The Smoke-Free Environments Law Project maintains this up-dated listing
of all the public housing authorities/commissions in the U.S. that we know of
which have adopted smoke-free policies for one or more of their apartment
buildings. The listing is done largely in the order in which the policies
have been adopted. As of May, 2009, at least 114 local housing
authorities had adopted smoke-free policies for some or all of their apartment
buildings, with about 96 being adopted since the beginning of January, 2005; an
average of over 1.8 per month. That constitutes an increase in the number of
housing authorities with smoke-free policies of about 660% in 53 months.
The 17 states with such policies include Michigan (29), Minnesota (19), Maine
(18), Colorado (11), California (7), Nebraska (6), Washington (5), New
Hampshire (3), Oregon (3), Alaska (3) New Jersey (2), Wisconsin (2), Idaho (2),
Florida, Montana, Indiana, and Kentucky. To access the listing, in pdf
format, click above.
7/2:
The Malibu City Council on Monday June 22nd voted to adopt an ordinance
that would prohibit smoking in public open spaces beginning July 31. The
ordinance, as proposed, would ban smoking within 20 feet of a public event,
such as a farmers' market. It would also ban smoking within 20 feet of outdoor
dining areas on public or private property, such as hotels and supermarkets.
Businesses with outdoor dining areas would be also required to
conspicuously post and maintain "no smoking" signs within the area.
The cost to implement such an ordinance has not yet been determined, but
will be based on the amount of public outreach and level of enforcement, a city
report states. All council members except John Sibert, who did not attend
the Monday meeting, supported the ordinance. Click above for full article.
7/1:
The following is from a June 27th Columbian article: In 1988, they banned it in airplanes. In
1994, in offices. In 2006, the bars. And this month, they finally banned
smoking in Teri Richard's apartment building. "When I grew up, there
was a big ashtray on everybody's table," said Richard, 53, sitting under a
small corner of awning that stretches 25 feet from the nearest door.
Though Richard and a handful of her neighbors are only the latest of
millions of tenants across the country to choose such indignities for the sake
of an addiction, these tenants have an unusual landlord: the Vancouver Housing
Authority. The new decision by Clark County's subsidized housing agency
to ban smoking in some of its properties reflects Washington's successful crusade
to drive down cigarette use. ... After years of debate, the VHA banned
smoking indoors and on the balconies of Richard's building at the start of June. The company that manages the property has left notes
on apartments but is still working out how the new rules would be enforced. On
Wednesday, Columbia House in the Hough neighborhood will become the VHA's
second smoke-free property. The agency might roll the ban out to others of its
dozens of buildings across the county , VHA deputy director LaVon Holden said
in May. Most public housing agencies are doing the same, she said. "It is just a standard of the business,"
said Holden, a former smoker. "We are becoming a culture that is less
tolerant of secondhand smoke, because we now know the downside." The
decision will save the agency about $1,900 for every two-bedroom apartment that
doesn't have to be scrubbed and repainted every time a smoker moves out, Holden
said. Smokers' habits had been making life less nice for some of the
Esther Short building's nonsmokers, who are a majority of the tenants. Click
above for full article.
Acting
Surgeon General Issues ÔCall to Action to Promote Healthy HomesÕ
6/12: According to a June 9th press release
from the Office of the U.S. Surgeon General: Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., M.P.H., today
issued The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes at a press
conference from the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. The Call to
Action looks at the ways housing can affect health; its release will initiate a
national dialogue about the importance of healthy homes. "The home is the
centerpiece of American life," Galson, a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public
Health Service, said during today's press conference. "We can prevent many diseases and injuries that result
from health hazards in the home by following the simple steps outlined in this
Call to Action." Some
examples outlined in the Call to Action include preventing falls by taking
measures such as installing grab bars in showers and preparing a fire escape
plan. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among older adults. Other steps outlined in the Call to Action
include: 1) Check gas appliances,
fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces yearly and change furnace and air
conditioning filters regularly. 2) Keep children safe from drowning, lead
poisoning, suffocation and strangulation, and other hazards. 3) Improve air quality in their homes
by installing radon and carbon monoxide detectors, eliminating smoking and
exposure to secondhand smoke, and controlling allergens that contribute to
asthma and mold growth. 4) Improve
water quality by learning to protect and maintain private water wells. Galson
urged everyone from parents and homebuilders to community leaders and policy
makers to embrace the holistic approach to creating healthy homes outlined in
the Call to Action. During the
event, Ron Sims, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) also announced the release of HUD's Healthy Homes Strategic Plan. HUD's plan demonstrates why healthy
homes is a national priority, describes what steps should be taken to achieve
healthier housing, and highlights the key public and private partners for
implementation.... The release of this document is part of a larger Healthy
Homes Initiative led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human ServicesÕ
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and HUD with support from such
organizations as the National Center for Healthy Housing, the Alliance for
Healthy Homes, and the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning. To access the
full press release, with links to related materials, click above. To access the HUD Healthy Homes report
and info, click here. To access
more Healthy Homes info, click here.
E-Cigarettes: Cigarettes Without Smoke, or Regulation
6/2: The following is from a June 2nd NY Times article: During 34 years of
smoking, Carolyn Smeaton has tried countless ways to reduce her
three-pack-a-day habit, including a nicotine patch, nicotine gum and a
prescription drug. But stop-smoking aids always failed her. Then, having
watched a TV infomercial at her home here, Ms. Smeaton tried an electronic
cigarette, which claimed to be a less dangerous way to feed her addiction. The
battery-powered device she bought online delivered an odorless dose of nicotine
and flavoring without cigarette tar or additives, and produced a vapor mist
nearly identical in appearance to tobacco smoke. "I feel like this could save my life," said Ms.
Smeaton, 47, who has cut her tobacco smoking to a pack and a half daily,
supplemented by her e-cigarette. That electronic cigarettes are unapproved by
the government and virtually unstudied has not deterred thousands of smokers
from flocking to mall kiosks and the Internet to buy them. And because they
produce no smoke, they can be used in workplaces, restaurants and airports. One
distributor is aptly named Smoking Everywhere. The reaction of medical authorities and antismoking groups
has ranged from calls for testing to skepticism to outright hostility. Opponents
say the safety claims are more rumor than anything else, since the components
of e-cigarettes have never been tested for safety. In fact, the Food and Drug
Administration has already refused entry to dozens of shipments of e-cigarettes
coming into the country, mostly from China, the chief maker of them, where
manufacture began about five years ago. The F.D.A. took similar action in 1989,
refusing shipments of an earlier, less appealing version, Favor Smoke-Free
Cigarettes. "These appear to
be unapproved drug device products," said Karen Riley, a spokeswoman for
the agency, "and as unapproved products they can't enter the United
States." But enough of the
e-cigarettes have made their way into the country that they continue to
proliferate online and in the malls.
Click above for full article.
Editorial:
Muskegon Community College should implement total smoking ban
6/2: The following is from an editorial in
the June 2nd Muskegon
Chronicle: Muskegon Community
College is on the right track as it moves toward a campus-wide smoking
ban. The board recently voted to
begin drafting a proposal that could prohibit smoking anywhere on campus. Other
options include creating smoking areas or allowing smoking in parked cars. The board wants the plan in place by
January and wants time to launch an awareness campaign to educate students,
faculty and staff about the ban and to point smokers toward resources that can
help them quit. They can easily make that goal if they keep moving forward.
It's important to allow time for students and faculty to quit smoking in
advance of the ban. The MCC
Student Government Association also is pushing for the ban -- something that
several other community colleges, including Grand Rapids Community College,
already have implemented. A total ban is the simplest and most prudent action
the board could take and it may come just in advance of a statewide indoor
workplace smoking ban passed last week by the Michigan House and under review
in the Senate -- although bills to prohibit smoking in the workplace have been
languishing in the Legislature since 2000. To access the full editorial, click above.
6/1: The Smoke-Free Environments Law Project
maintains this up-dated listing of all the public housing authorities/commissions
in the U.S. that we know of which have adopted smoke-free policies for one or
more of their apartment buildings.
The listing is done largely in the order in which the policies have been
adopted. As of May, 2009, at least
112 local housing authorities had adopted smoke-free policies for some or all
of their apartment buildings, with about 94 being adopted since the beginning
of January, 2005; an average of about 1.8 per month. That constitutes an
increase in the number of housing authorities with smoke-free policies of about
660% in 53 months. The 17 states
with such policies include Michigan (28), Minnesota (19), Maine (18), Colorado
(11), California (7), Nebraska (6), Washington (4), New Hampshire (3), Oregon
(3), Alaska (3) New Jersey (2), Wisconsin (2), Idaho (2), Florida, Montana,
Indiana, and Kentucky. To access
the listing, in pdf format, click above.
6/1: According to a May 29th Traverse City
Record Eagle story: Traverse City leaders hope a new push
will help them extinguish smoking in bars and restaurants. State Rep. Gary McDowell, D-Rudyard,
agreed to sponsor a bill in the Michigan Legislature to allow local control of
smoking in bars and restaurants. It would give local officials the authority to
ban smoking in such places and could spur legislators in Lansing to enact a
statewide ban, McDowell said.
"This would allow local units of government to go ahead and make
this decision themselves, rather than waiting on Lansing. It's a long process
and I'm not sure we can get it done on a state level," he said. Traverse City officials sought McDowell's
help because the local state representative, Wayne Schmidt, R-Traverse City,
opposes the idea and said smoking rules should be set by business and property
owners. McDowell intends to introduce the bill next week and seek co-sponsors.
The bill could get a leg up in Lansing over a statewide ban because many
legislators support local control on certain topics, he said. "I feel we need a statewide ban
and I think this would snowball across the state," McDowell said. The idea is to increase awareness of
the dangers of second-hand smoke and to protect workers at their jobs, he
said. The new bill is the
brainchild of Traverse City Mayor Michael Estes and the Traverse City
Commission, McDowell said. "I
think it's a positive step for communities," Estes said. "Forget
about Lansing making this decision for us. Give us the local control and let
them deal with bigger issues." Click above for the full article.
5/27: According to a May 26th news story: A
House-authored indoor smoking ban like the one approved last year now heads to
the Senate, still absent an agreement between the two chambers that doomed the
effort in 2008. The proposed ban that would apply to nearly all indoor
workplaces in Michigan, including bars and restaurants, easily passed Tuesday,
73-31, after attempts to weaken or strengthen it were defeated. Cigar bars, tobacco specialty shops and
the gaming floors of Detroit's three commercial casinos would be the lone
exceptions in a bill that would make Michigan the 37th state to enact broad
prohibitions on workplace smoking. ... Last year, however, the Senate stripped
out those exemptions. The bill died months later when House Speaker Andy
Dillon, D-Redford, declined to schedule a post-election vote that smoking
opponents were confident they would have won. Ball and other smoking foes in the Legislature voted for
Tuesday's ban on the understanding that if the Senate nixes carve-outs for
casinos and cigar bars, there would be a House vote to send an exception-free
measure to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her expected signature. "If it comes back a clean bill, we
can get the votes to pass it," Ball said. Rep. Timothy Bledsoe, D-Grosse Pointe, wasn't buying it,
saying the bill caves to "powerful special interests" and "takes
us down the same failed path." Senate Majority Leader Michael Bishop,
R-Rochester, says business owners should make the decision to ban smoking, but
says any ban should be a total one. Whether a majority of his Senate colleagues
still feel that way is unclear given what advocates say is a growing public
expectation in Michigan that the Legislature act. Smoking bans in the states of
Wisconsin and North Carolina, home of the tobacco industry, were signed into
law last week. Click above for the
full article.
Smoke-free
regulation approved by Benzie-Leelanau Board of Health; Now goes to county
commissioners
5/27: According to a May 27th Leelanau
Enterprise report: A proposal to
ban smoking in public workplaces was unanimously supported last week by the
Benzie-Leelanau Board of Health.
The board voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the proposed ordinance,
which was the subject of a public hearing May 14. Six people attended the
public hearing at the Binsfeld Center in Lake Leelanau and expressed support
for the measure, department director Bill Crawford said. Based on similar
legislation in place in Marquette County and the City of Traverse City, the
proposed ordinance prohibits smoking in all enclosed private and public
worksites and public places. It would also include restrooms, lobbies,
reception areas, hallways and any other common use area. The only sites where smoking would not
be regulated under the measure would be food service establishments, private
residences except when used for child care, health care or adult day care
facilities, tobacco specialty stores, and casinos owned and operated by Native
American tribes. Enforcement would be by the health department officer or a
designee. Upon the first complaint, a subject would receive a warning. A second
complaint (within one year), is punishable by a fine of not more than $100;
second offense, $300; third offense, $500. The ordinance, if adopted by both
the boards of commissioners in both Benzie and Leelanau counties, would become
effective 90 days after final approval, Crawford said. Click above to access the article.
Smoke-Free
Multi-Unit Housing in Michigan: 0 to 100,000s in 5 Years
5/5: On April 30th at a smoke-free housing meeting in
Quebec City, Quebec, SFELP Director Jim Bergman presented an overview of the
smoke-free multi-unit housing initiative in Michigan and other parts of the
United States. The presentation was a part of an all-day meeting sponsored by
the Non-Smokers' Rights Association of Canada (NSRA). Other speakers included
Francois Damphousse and Pippa Beck of NSRA, Karine Fournier, Esq., and Jack
Boomer of the Clean Air Coalition of British Columbia. Bergman's presentation
described the successes Michigan health partners have had in the past 5 years
in assisting apartment owners to adopt smoke-free policies for well over
100,000 rental units statewide. He also discussed how this was achieved and the
barriers that had to be overcome. To access the 45-slide PowerPoint he used,
click above.