•Smoking is banned in state government buildings

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

No smoking signs will be a little more common in North Carolina soon.

Come Jan. 1, 2008 state government buildings will be smoke-free facilities.

“The time has come to do this,” Rep. Dewey Hill said Tuesday. “We all know what tobacco has done for North Carolina but there is a lot of opposition to secondhand smoke.”

Hill said people who smoke should be courteous of those around them. He gave the example of a person having to leave a building because an asthma attack was triggered by cigarette smoke.

“There was a time I would not have considered this,” Sen. R.C. Soles Jr. said. He added that the cost of healthcare for those without insurance in the state was expensive and specialists have said the health risks of secondhand smoke is a contributing factor.

A bill (H24) that passed both the House and Senate by a landslide prohibits smoking in public buildings owned, leased or occupied by state government. Gov. Mike Easley signed the measure into law on July 8.

Smoking in residence halls is prohibited beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year.

The only exception to the ban is that smoking is permitted where research is being conducted.
The new law also authorizes local governments, any local political subdivision of the state, to regulate smoking in buildings and vehicles owned, leased, or occupied by the local government.

This gives local government the ability to ban smoking in government-owned buildings, local health departments, social services, and day cares.

Local school boards are authorized to regulate or ban smoking at public schools campuses, facilities, vehicles and school-sponsored events.

Local school systems have had for some time the ability to regulate smoking at events.

Smoking is banned in Columbus County and Whiteville City school gymnasiums, but neither school board has regulated smoking at outdoor events.

Applicability of the local government’s ability to regulate smoking extends to a public meeting, indoor space in an auditorium or arena, and at a library or museum open to the public.

The law sends a strong message about smoking in government buildings but backs away from earlier proposals to ban smoking in restaurants.

Hill said proposals to ban smoking in restaurants and business was “a little more than what we needed.”

“You’re messing with the private rights of business owners (there),” Hill said.