
{"id":28024,"date":"2012-09-27T10:02:10","date_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=28024"},"modified":"2012-09-27T10:02:10","modified_gmt":"2012-09-27T14:02:10","slug":"board-of-health-considers-smoking-ban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/09\/27\/board-of-health-considers-smoking-ban\/","title":{"rendered":"Board of health considers smoking ban"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Rose Laudicina<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Orange County Board of Health is considering proposing a rule that would further limit places where smoking is allowed in Orange County. <\/p>\n<p>While smoking is already prohibited in bars and restaurants in North Carolina in accordance with a law that went into effect January 2010, this new regulation, if passed, would prohibit smoking on government grounds, at recreation facilities, in retail stores and in government vehicles and buildings. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153As the second healthiest county in North Carolina, we really feel like we need to be leading by example,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Stacy Shelp, public-information officer for the Orange County Health Department. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Orange County prides itself \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 as a place where people want to come and visit. To have an environment where people can breathe easier \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 lends itself to be a more healthy and pleasant environment for all people who live and visit here,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shelp said. <\/p>\n<p>The board of health decided to reevaluate the county\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s smoking ordinance and began drafting a smoking ban as part of its 2012-14 strategic plan to increase the health of residents of Orange County. <\/p>\n<p>Although the rule is still being drafted and discussed by the board, board members have already reached out to collect feedback from local elected officials and community health leaders through a survey. <\/p>\n<p>After receiving the survey results, the board met on Wednesday, after <em>The Citizen<\/em> went to press, to discuss the results and adjust the draft if necessary before opening up an online survey today (Thursday) for feedback. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The folks I have talked to have largely been supportive,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Orange County Health Director Colleen Bridger said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Most people understand the health hazards of second-hand smoke.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>In creating a draft ordinance, the county has been working closely with Durham County, which in August put into effect a smoking ban similar to what the board is considering.  <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When you look at cities like Durham, which was really tobacco country USA, they went smoke-free before us,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Shelp said. <\/p>\n<p>Working with Durham and the Durham County health department enables the Orange County health department to share ideas and receive helpful information regarding lessons learned in putting the law into action, Shelp said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are learning from their implementation and enforcement, and they have been immensely supportive and helpful,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bridger said. <\/p>\n<p>While figuring out how to enforce the law if implemented could pose some problems, Bridger and Shelp both said they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as worried about that as they were about awareness and education.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We said all along this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really about enforcement, this is more about empowerment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bridger said. <\/p>\n<p>Shelp noted that law-enforcement officers would have the authority to give someone smoking in a prohibited area a $25 fine.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do I expect to see a lot of police enforcement associated with this? No,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bridger said, adding that she hopes just having the law in place will make people think twice before smoking, which would have a positive impact not just on those breathing second-hand smoke but on the smokers themselves. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The recognition is there that smoking is bad for you and inhaling second-hand smoke is just as bad for you,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bridger said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe this will encourage more people to try one more time to quit smoking, and maybe this will be the time it sticks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The board of health will hold a public hearing on the smoking ban on Oct. 24. If the board decides to move forward with it, the ban would be presented to the Orange County Board of Commissioners in November.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Orange County Board of Health is considering proposing a rule that would further limit places where smoking is allowed in Orange County. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28031,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28024\/revisions\/28031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}