Expanded smoking bans unlikely before summer

A widening of the county’s ban on smoking in public places likely wouldn’t go into effect until next July, assuming officials can agree on how to word the necessary ordinance, County Manager Mike Ruffin says.

Ruffin’s assessment capped a review of the proposal by County Commissioners earlier this month.

The meeting saw commissioners agree with Durham’s City Council that the law needs to retain designated smoking-allowed areas outside otherwise smoke-free facilities like the downtown bus station.

Commissioners also voiced worry that plans to address smoking on sidewalks outside city or county property, hospitals or Durham Tech could go awry.

One who was dubious, Commissioner Ellen Reckhow, noted that the ordinance in theory would require a smoker to extinguish his or her cigarette while walking past City Hall, even though smoking on the sidewalk would be allowed in much of downtown.

“It’s going to be awkward,” Reckhow said.

Similarly, “if all the smokers in the courthouse decide they need a break and go one block away [to light up], we could wind up getting complaints from a business or a church,” she said. “All we’ve done is move the issue.”

Reckhow added that while she “really [doesn’t] appreciate smoking” because he own mother died of lung cancer, she also likes “logical ordinances” that are easy for the public to understand.

“I don’t like the way this is a patchwork, because it doesn’t seem like it’s going to work,” she said.

Assistant County Attorney Bryan Wardell said officials already were figuring on changing the wording of the ordinance to address a concern of the city’s, namely that the original draft might inadvertently exempt state-owned sidewalks.

The amended wording will cover all sidewalks “maintained by the city or county,” which in practice means all those near the targeted facilities because local governments, not the N.C. Department of Transportation, handles sidewalk maintenance, Wardell said.

Commissioner Pam Karriker cautioned that she doesn’t want to see the ordinance become a tool used to harass those who are mentally ill or homeless.

“I want to make sure we don’t further stigmatize that population,” she said, arguing for the preservation of smoking-allowed areas outside facilities that serve them.

Commissioners Chairman Michael Page agreed, but acknowledged the possibility of sending “dual messages” because of the known harms of smoking.

County Health Director Gayle Harris said her department wants to widen existing no-smoking bans because there is “no safe level of exposure” to tobacco smoke.

Tobacco costs the U.S. about $200 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity each year, she said, adding that about 440,000 people die annually from tobacco-related conditions.

Read more: The Herald-Sun - Expanded smoking bans unlikely before summer