Health officials look to extend smoking ban around county buildings

Cowlitz County officials plan to make the entire health department campus — including the parking lot — smoke free this year and are considering eventually extending that to all county buildings.
Smoking is already banned inside county buildings by a state law that also prohibits smoking within 25 feet of entrances or windows. The new ban, which still must be formally approved by county commissioners in January, would mean smoking is now off-limits anywhere on the health department property.
Health officials said it's the right thing to do given their mandate to improve the county's overall health.
"Part of our job is to walk our talk, whether that comes to exercising more or going tobacco-free," said Carlos Carreon, the county's director of health and human services. St. John Medical Center, for example, also has a tobacco-free campus.
Smoking in particular plagues Cowlitz County, which has much higher smoking rates for both adults and teens than state averages. Pathways 2020, a coalition dedicated to improving the county's quality of life, earlier this year gave the county an "F" grade for the number of pregnant smokers and "D" grades for the number of adult smokers and asthma rates.
Health officials polled employees about the change and also talked with other counties, including Mason and Pierce, who have similar bans either at their health department or for their entire county. Local employees overwhelmingly supported the ban in the poll.
Officials plan to post signs about the new policy including asking drivers to extinguish any cigarettes before getting out of their cars. A picnic table on the property also will be off limit to smokers. They also will enforce the policy as "gently" as possible and officials plan to work with human resources "because we realize tobacco is an addiction," Carreon said.
The ban discussed last week deals only with the health and human services property at 1952 9th Ave., in Longview. But, health officials said they hope to eventually expand the measure to all county buildings.
"The long-term goal is to maybe expand it county-wide," Carreon said.
Commissioner Axel Swanson said it's worth investigating, though he cautioned there may be more details that need to be worked out.
"We'll see how it works out (at the health department) but I'd definitely support looking at it countywide," Swanson said.
Commissioner Kathleen Johnson, for example, wondered if such a ban would extend to the cab of a county-owned truck. She also took exception to a line in the proposed health department policy that said employees breaking the policy face discipline including possible termination. Johnson wondered if that would pass muster with the county's unions if the ban was eventually extended to other buildings.
"I support the idea of the health department being a jumping off point, but if we're going to extend this across the board there may be other issues," Johnson said.
Carreon said the health department union representative was involved in drafting the health department's policy. He'll run it by the county's legal and personnel teams, though, to double check.

Altria spent nearly $2.7 million in 3rd quarter lobbying on health care, cigarette trafficking

Altria Client Services Inc., on behalf of the nation’s biggest cigarette maker, spent nearly $2.7 million in the third quarter to lobby the federal government on legislation involving health care issues and cigarette trafficking, according to a recent disclosure form.
Altria also lobbied on legislation involving taxes, and a climate bill to create clean energy jobs and reduce greenhouse gases in the July-September period, according to the report filed Oct. 20 with the House clerk’s office.
Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc. owns Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA and UST Inc., the U.S. leader in smokeless tobacco with brands such as Copenhagen and Skoal.

5 million: Yearly tobacco deaths

Tobacco smoking kills at least 5 million people around the planet every year -- 600,000 of them from breathing secondhand smoke -- the World Health Organization reported last week. The death toll could rise to 8 million per year by 2030, mostly in low-income, low-education, developing countries, the U.N. agency said.
This is a terrible waste of human lives, stemming from a drug addiction that brings no benefit, only a plague of illnesses.
Nearly 170 nations ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in 2003, pledging to protect their populations from the worst preventable health menace, but results have been paltry, especially in the poor Third World.Education and prosperity are the best cures for nicotine addiction. "Smoking levels naturally drop off -- as they have in Western countries -- when populations become richer and better-educated," a report noted.
Sadly, rural West Virginia has America's worst rate of deadly cigarette use, a new U.S. study found last month. With lower income and learning levels, mountain folk are prime victims of the curse that causes cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other ills.
The U.S. report, by the Centers for Disease Control, pointed out that "41.3 percent of persons with a GED certificate smoked cigarettes, compared to 5.7 percent of persons with a graduate degree. . . . Smoking rates among low-income adults enrolled in Medicaid programs are much higher than the general population (33 percent to 19 percent)."
State Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha -- a physician -- wants to add $1 per pack to West Virginia's cigarette tax for a double-benefit: to raise $100 million state revenue and save teenagers from getting hooked on nicotine. Bravo. We hope he draws solid support in the Legislature.
As for adults, each smoker ultimately faces a solitary challenge. It's up to the individual puffer to decide whether to go through the agonizing struggle to break free from one of the strongest addictions. It takes courage and willpower, but we hope more West Virginians bravely make the effort.

$2K in cigarettes stolen from store

Have you seen a Marlboro man?
Police are investigating a burglary at the Pine Tree General Store on Route 1 this week involving the theft of more than 30 cartons of cigarettes.
Police were called to the store at 9:47 p.m. Monday, on a report that the front door had been smashed in and someone was inside the store.
When police arrived, they did not find anyone inside the store. They asked for a state police K9 unit, which followed a track north on Route 1; the dog subsequently lost the scent.
It was later determined that 34 cartons of cigarettes — most of them Marlboros — were stolen, with a total value of $2,190.
No cash was taken from the register nor did other items appear to have been stolen.

Officers seize cigarettes in market raid

THOUSANDS of illicit cigarettes have been seized by customs officials from peddlers at Bathgate Market.
The West Lothian market was targeted during a four-day blitz by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) officials last week, which found almost 92,000 cigarettes being sold at premises throughout the central belt.
Five kilograms of rolling tobacco and 2,000 cigarettes were seized in a BMW car at Bathgate Market as part of operation Dog Wood Prize.
The revenue loss to crooks from the four-day operation is estimated to be £21,554.
HMRC officers were supported by British Transport Police and Lothian & Borders and Strathclyde forces during the raids.
A police spokeswoman said: "The proceeds from this kind of sale are more than likely going to fund serious and organised crime."

Ky. ranks low in anti-smoking spending

A report by anti-smoking groups is ranking Kentucky 40th among states in the amount of money spent to persuade people to quit or never start smoking.
The report says Kentucky spends $3.9 million a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. The report says that total is far below the amount recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Kentucky ranked 41st last year. The slight bump is due to an increase in federal funding for Kentucky cessation programs.
The report was released recently by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.