Governor Kaine Announces Restaurant Smoking Ban Legislation

Standing with members of the Hampton Roads Mayors and Chairs Caucus, the Virginia Beach Restaurant Association, General Assembly members, and medical and public health officials at Hot Tuna Bar & Grill in Virginia Beach, the Governor proposed legislation for a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants.
“The scientific evidence on the health risks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke is clear and convincing,” said Governor Kaine. “Recognizing the negative health effects and high public costs of secondhand smoke, Virginia must act to protect the workers and consumers in its restaurants.”

-Governor Kaine's Website, January 7, 2008

2008 Legislation Goes Into Effect Throughout the Country

It's a New Year and smoking bans and cigarette tax increases are going into effect all over the country!

Illinois: Statewide ban goes into effect Jan. 1.
Colorado: Statewide ban extends to casinos Jan. 1.
Kansas: Kansas City suburbs' smoking bans go into effect Jan. 1 & 2, pressuring Kansas City itself.
Maryland: Baltimore smoking ban goes into effect. Jan. 1.
Texas: McKinney, Sugar Land and Fort Worth restaurant smoking bans go into effect Jan. 1.
California: Smoking ban in cars with kids goes into effect Jan. 1.
Wisconsin: $1/pack cigarette tax hike goes into effect. Jan. 1, raising tax to $1.77.
Maryland: $1/pack cigarette tax hike goes into effect. Jan. 1, raising tax to $2.

From Tobacco.org Updates, 1/2/2008

No Smoking In Restaurants

Smokers and non-smokers are getting fired up about two city councils approving smoking bans for restaurants. Norfolk City Council approved the measure 7-1 Tuesday night. That puts butts out by March 31st 2008. Virginia Beach City Council approved a similar measure 7-3, but the Beach must get approval from the General Assembly to force smokers outside.

Waffles 'n Things on Laskin Road in Virginia Beach is one of the only 24 hour restaurants this time of year. They still allow people to smoke with their meals. Alan Mitnaul has been working the overnight shift for about 5 years. He says just about everyone who comes in smokes. He'll be happy if the General Assembly approves the smoking ban. "I will be personally. I don't smoke, so i'm catching all the second hand smoke. I'm happy for the ban. I'll breathe a little easier, get some fresh air."

Just about everyone in the restaurant overnight was smoking. And just about everyone in the restaurant overnight supported the smoking ban.

Dorothy Winecoff is visiting from Ohio. She was smoking while we spoke. "The ban is needed. They've had it in Ohio since 2005. No children should be exposed to cigarette smoke, it's a nasty habit."

Bobby Williams was also smoking during our conversation. "I think it's alright they banned smoking in the restaurant because kids and people who don't smoke. I don't think it's comfortable for them to be around smoking."

Carlos Hawkins pulled in to the parking lot to speak his mind. He's a non-smoker. "I do not smoke, but if they want to smoke let them have a cigarette. If they wish not to smoke it's a business owners choice not a city council's choice."

In Norfolk it is a City Council choice and the ban takes effect in March 2008. In Virginia Beach it will be a General Assembly choice. That decision is expected around the same time Norfolk's smoking ban begins.

WTKR: NewsChannel 3 (Norfolk, VA), 2007-10-24

World Tobacco Quote of the Day

“[O]ur study illustrates that cigarette pack displays in retail stores do trigger impulse buying of cigarettes among smokers, even those who are trying to quit, every time they visit a store.”
Professor Melanie Wakefield of the Cancer Council Victoria.
» Cigarette pack displays 'tempt quitters', The Australian (Thursday, November 22, 2007)

USA: New Survey Finds That Smokers Remain Unaware Of The Health Effects Of Smoking

A new national survey conducted by the American Legacy Foundation and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, indicates that major knowledge gaps exist in what smokers believe to be the risks of smoking compared with the actual realities of tobacco related disease and death. Experts believe these misperceptions may prevent smokers from trying to quit and successfully utilising proven smoking cessation treatments.

According to the survey many smokers underestimate the risk of developing lung cancer with four in 10 incorrectly believing that lung cancer depends more on genes than anything else. Furthermore, the survey found that up to a third of smokers think that certain activities such as exercise and taking vitamins could undo most of the effects of smoking. Misperceptions about the effects of nicotine found in cigarettes remain at the forefront.

Great American Smokeout!

Smokers Urged to Make a Plan to Quit

During American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout®

The American Cancer Society will celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Great American Smokeout on Thursday, November 15. With exactly half of the United States now protected by smoke-free laws, and a variety of cessation resources available, there has never been a better time to quit smoking and enjoy the health benefits.

The Great American Smokeout Web site (www.cancer.org/greatamericans) will feature new desktop helpers, including a Quit Clock and a Craving Stopper. These tools will be available by Nov. 1 and can be downloaded to a computer desktop to help smokers pick a quit day, prepare for quitting, and offer support during and after quitting. In addition, the site will continue to provide tips, tools, and resources, as well as the successful Quitline call back feature, which allows smokers to submit a short form to be directly contacted by a trained specialist who will provide assistance during a quit attempt.

In addition to encouraging smokers to make a plan to quit, the Great American Smokeout is a day for Americans to join the American Cancer Society and its sister advocacy organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action NetworkSM (ACS CAN) in their efforts to advocate for smoke-free laws in communities nationwide. The combination of smoke-free communities and smoking cessation support is critical to helping smokers quit and stay tobacco-free.

The American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, Mass., in which Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state’s first D-Day, or Don’t Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on Nov. 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. That California event marked the first Great American Smokeout, which went nationwide the next year.

Did you know....?

In 2006, an estimated 20.8% (45.3 million) of U.S. adults were current cigarette smokers; of these, 80.1% (36.3 million) smoked every day, and 19.9% (9.0 million) smoked some days. Among current cigarette smokers, an estimated 44.2% (19.9 million) had stopped smoking for more than 1 day during the preceding 12 months because they were trying to quit. Of the estimated 91 million persons who had smoked at least 100 cigarettes during their lifetimes (i.e., ever smokers), 50.2% (45.7 million) had quit smoking at the time of the interview.

Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), 2007-11-09 (as seen on Smokefree.net)