Published: May 15, 2008 07:03 pm      

Publisher’s Notebook: Smoking bans gain momentum, except here

Lexington recently marked the four-year anniversary of its public indoor smoking ban, which opened the door for similar bans across Kentucky.

Seventeen communities now ban smoking in public places or workplaces. The list is growing every day. The Danville City Commission gave final approval to its smoking ban in workplaces at the end of April.

Glasgow, in south central Kentucky, is working on its own smoke-free ordinance. It would prohibit smoking in public places and places of employment, though exceptions would be made at outdoor work areas, tobacco retail stores and designated smoking rooms at hotels.

Yes, smoking bans are gaining momentum across the state.

But not here in London.

Glasgow’s ban is being pushed by city councilman Freddie Norris, who grew up with a father who chain smoked and has spent his career as a pharmacist, which has given him a first-hand look at the effects of smoking on a person’s health.

Glasgow council members conducted public hearings, published questionnaires and actively sought citizen input on the proposed smoking ban. That demonstrates how elected officials can become proactive in addressing an issue that’s important to the health of their constituents, basically, doing the job they were elected to do.

But it’s not happening in London.

In other communities where the elected officals don’t have the backbone to even ackowledge the need to protect the public from second-hand smoke, health officials are seizing the initiative and are adopting and pushing smoking bans on their own.

The Madison County Health Department approved a county-wide smoking ban last year, which encompasses the cities of Richmond and Berea. The Woodford County Health Department is scheduled to give final approval to its smoking ban this month.

Glasgow’s proposed non-smoking ordinance was initiated by an area cardiologist, who organized a community gathering at the end of January to discuss the possibility of a smoking ban.

Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley said she was pushing the ban because she was concerned about people “who are forced to work, play or dine in that (smoking) environment.”

This demonstrates how health officials can provide cover for skittish city council members and do most of the legwork to pass a beneficial piece of legislation.

Doctors and health department officials should be the first persons to recognize the dangers of second-hand smoke and be willing to step to the forefront to do something about it.

But they don’t here in London.

Hospitals across the state are going completely tobacco-free. Many have allowed smoking outdoors in designated areas for patients, employees and visitors. But that will change when they eliminate smoking entirely across their campuses.

This will stop the unusual sight of patients wheeling their IV stands outside to smoke and nurses and doctors lighting up inside their smoking patios before going back to treat their ill patients.

With Lexington leading the way, Kentucky has changed a lot in four years.

Today, nearly a third of Kentuckians are protected by a smoke-free law when they go to a public place, Ellen Hahn, director of the Kentucky Center for Smoke-Free Policy told the Herald-Leader last month.

“If you think about it, we’ve really had a explosion of (smoking) laws in Kentucky,” Hahn said.

The public would support such and explosion here in London, if only someone would be willing to light the fuse.