Tobacco News

Sparked by Texas wildfires and crowding at area festivals, Austin City Council passed a proposal Thursday to ban smoking in all public parks.

Council members passed the proposal by consent during the council’s regular meeting at City Hall yesterday. The plan, co-sponsored by Kathie Tovo, Mike Martinez and Laura Morrison, intends for a citywide ban on smoking at Parks and Recreation sites to be implemented within the next year. Ream more »

A BAN on the sale of cigarettes from vending machines will come into force on February 1 in Wales. A similar ban was introduced in England this month.

The Welsh Government last night said the ban would cut off a source of tobacco teenagers.

One in 10 regular smokers aged 11 to 15, say they buy their cigarettes from vending machines.
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Banning tobacco won unanimous support from Montana State University leaders last week, but on Monday opinion was still split among students, professors and employees.
A noon public forum saw a lively debate over individuals’ right to be free of government dictates versus individuals’ right to a clean and healthy environment.
About two dozen people attended the forum, sponsored by the MSU Leadership Institute, MSU political science department, Montana PBS and Associated Students of MSU. Ream more »

Faced with a proposal to ban tobacco from all school district property, the School Board opted to butt out.

The comprehensive tobacco-free policy, advocated by the state Department of Health, would forbid smoking and other forms of tobacco use on all district property, including athletic fields and parking lots.

That would have meant snuffing out all tobacco use not just on school campuses but also on other property where students rarely or never go, such as the maintenance office and the district administration headquarters in Brooksville. Ream more »

The Hermosa Beach City Council has decided to move forward with drafting an ordinance that would ban smoking in most public spaces, including Pier Plaza, public parking lots, the Strand, Greenbelt and other city parks.

The council in a meeting Tuesday night voted 4-1 to direct city staffers to draft the law, which will be presented at a council meeting on Oct. 25.
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The Bullitt County Board of Health is not giving up its struggle to enact a county-wide smoking ban and has decided to appeal a court decision restricting its power to create and enforce new regulations.
Bullitt County Circuit Court Judge Rodney Burress ruled earlier this month that the health department could not choose where people smoke and wrote in his decision any regulations must be introduced by the Cabinet for Family and Health Services. Ream more »

Tobacco use is the most common preventable cause of death. About half of the people who don’t quit smoking will die of smoking-related problems. Quitting smoking is important for your health and provides many benefits. There are many different plans to stop smoking, some take gradual steps and some just quit cold turkey, but what is important is to make the decision to quit. Ream more »

Officials continued Friday to respond to a forbidding Mother Nature with public policy, expanding a burn ban in city parks to include a prohibition on smoking as Houston’s record heat and drought intensifies what a council ordinance this week described as “an imminent threat of conflagration.”

Although the mayor made no public statements about signing an executive order on Friday to temporarily outlaw smoking in the city’s 380 parks, her directive followed two fires this week at George Bush Park, a county park inside Houston’s city limits. Ream more »

“I feel like I’m smoking a lot more now that I can’t smoke on campus,” Zack Garett, a University Southern Indiana student said a week after classes started.

The policy, which took effect July 1, doesn’t permit students or faculty to smoke on campus. It will only allow students and faculty to smoke and use other tobacco products in their own cars. Previously smokers were restricted from buildings and 30 feet from the entrances to the buildings.
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Just when you thought the smoking ban battle was over, it strikes up again.

Charleston city leaders are now talking about banning smoking at Haddad Riverfront Park.
“I think maybe the city manager’s received a number of complaints,” says city council member Bobby Reishman (R). When rules were changed again a few years ago, the canopy wasn’t in place.
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