Dec. 8, 2009
Proposed Ban on Bar, Video Lottery Smoking Available
Public Hearing December 28
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Smokers will have less places to light up if a proposal by the Cabell Huntington Board of Health goes into effect. Currently, smoking is banned in restaurants and workplaces. Venues where alcohol totals greater than eighty per cent of sales are exempt. Similar exceptions apply to large bingo halls and personal care homes.
The Cabell County ban produced challenges that failed in the West Virginia Supreme Court. http://www.cabellhealth.org/SC%20Decision.pdf
Now, other counties have regulations that extend clean air to bars and gambling establishments.
As drafted, the non-smoking regulations would be extended to “all enclosed public places within Cabell County.” The list includes sports arenas, convention halls, lobbies/hallways of apartment buildings/condominiums/nursing homes/retirement facilities/multiple unit residential facilities, restaurants (including outdoor seating areas), bowling facilities, polling places, auction houses, enclosed shopping malls and indoor flea markets, taxicabs, hospitals and physicians offices, Laundromats, hotels, motels, bars and video lottery rooms. CLICK HERE to download a pdf copy of the proposal.
Smoking would NOT be regulated in private residences (unless used for child or adult day care or as a Personal Care Home or Residential Board Facility), NO MORE than 25% of hotel/motel rooms rented to guests, bingo halls that distribute more than one hundred bingo cards, outdoor areas (except covered by the public place definition), and those locations stipulated by the WV Supreme Court of Appeals , Dec. 2, 2003.
Enforcement will be by local health officer, public health nurse or sanitarian and violations include a fine of no less than $50 and no more than $500. Willful violations will be $200-$1,000. “Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts of this state,” the draft states.
A public hearing will occur at the Health Department, December 28 at 6 p.m.
They will accept written comments until January 15, 2010.
If you cannot download a copy, the proposal is available at the Cabell County Courthouse, Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe’s office, the Cabell County Public Library or the Health Department.
The Cabell County Health Dept. website notes that “exposure to secondhand smoke is a common and significant hazard in WV. Breathing secondhand smoke has been shown to contribute to many serious health conditions.”
The department has a Regional Tobacco Prevention Coalition for the counties of Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne that meets every fourth Monday at the Department.
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Proposed Ban on Bar, Video Lottery Smoking Available
Public Hearing December 28
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Smokers will have less places to light up if a proposal by the Cabell Huntington Board of Health goes into effect. Currently, smoking is banned in restaurants and workplaces. Venues where alcohol totals greater than eighty per cent of sales are exempt. Similar exceptions apply to large bingo halls and personal care homes.
The Cabell County ban produced challenges that failed in the West Virginia Supreme Court. http://www.cabellhealth.org/SC%20Decision.pdf
Now, other counties have regulations that extend clean air to bars and gambling establishments.
As drafted, the non-smoking regulations would be extended to “all enclosed public places within Cabell County.” The list includes sports arenas, convention halls, lobbies/hallways of apartment buildings/condominiums/nursing homes/retirement facilities/multiple unit residential facilities, restaurants (including outdoor seating areas), bowling facilities, polling places, auction houses, enclosed shopping malls and indoor flea markets, taxicabs, hospitals and physicians offices, Laundromats, hotels, motels, bars and video lottery rooms. CLICK HERE to download a pdf copy of the proposal.
Smoking would NOT be regulated in private residences (unless used for child or adult day care or as a Personal Care Home or Residential Board Facility), NO MORE than 25% of hotel/motel rooms rented to guests, bingo halls that distribute more than one hundred bingo cards, outdoor areas (except covered by the public place definition), and those locations stipulated by the WV Supreme Court of Appeals , Dec. 2, 2003.
Enforcement will be by local health officer, public health nurse or sanitarian and violations include a fine of no less than $50 and no more than $500. Willful violations will be $200-$1,000. “Magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction with the circuit courts of this state,” the draft states.
A public hearing will occur at the Health Department, December 28 at 6 p.m.
They will accept written comments until January 15, 2010.
If you cannot download a copy, the proposal is available at the Cabell County Courthouse, Huntington Mayor Kim Wolfe’s office, the Cabell County Public Library or the Health Department.
The Cabell County Health Dept. website notes that “exposure to secondhand smoke is a common and significant hazard in WV. Breathing secondhand smoke has been shown to contribute to many serious health conditions.”
The department has a Regional Tobacco Prevention Coalition for the counties of Cabell, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne that meets every fourth Monday at the Department.
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