NEWS
By Alison Knezevich, The Baltimore Sun | October 26, 2011
Baltimore County plans to prohibit employees from smoking in government vehicles, including police cars and maintenance trucks, a county health official confirmed. Dr. Gregory Wm. Branch, the county health officer, recommended the move to county Administrative Officer Fred Homan last week, citing the health risks of secondhand smoke. "Secondhand smoke can remain in [homes and cars] through contaminated dust and surfaces, even if smoking took place days, weeks and even months earlier," Branch wrote in the letter obtained by The Baltimore Sun. "The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has concluded that secondhand smoke is an occupational carcinogen.
HEALTH
By Meredith Cohn, The Baltimore Sun | October 5, 2011
In the continued effort to reduce infant mortality in Baltimore, health officials and the Family League of Baltimore City have launched an effort to reduce secondhand smoke near babies and pregnant women. The campaign, called "Just Hold Off," is the second phase of the B'more for Healthy Babies program. The first phase, launched in August 2010, focused on safe sleep: Babies should sleep alone, on their backs in a crib. Officials are urging smokers to back away from pregnant women and babies in the home, vehicles, bus shelters and elsewhere.
EXPLORE
July 18, 2011
The griping about the smoking ban in our public parks falls on deaf ears for me. One complaint I heard was about a smoker being forced to stop if his neighbor could "smell the smoke. " It's not smelling smoke that's bad, it's breathing smoke that's lethal. We deserve the right to breath clean air anywhere, anytime. Carole Fisher Ellicott City
HEALTH
By Jessica Anderson, The Baltimore Sun | July 11, 2011
Howard County, which led the way in prohibiting smoking indoors, plans to extend the ban outdoors to all county parks, a move that would be the first of its kind in the state. "It's something we've been looking at for some time," County Executive Ken Ulman said in an interview, adding that it's another goal toward making "Howard County the healthiest county it can be. " Smoking, he said, "is not in keeping with that. It's a dirty, filthy habit. " Ulman plans on issuing an executive order that applies to all 57 park properties, but does not include open space and parks owned by the Columbia Association.
NEWS
March 22, 2011
Monday night, the Ocean City Town Council voted to ban smoking in certain municipal playgrounds as well as the town's skate park and tennis center. It was considered a bold move, at least for Ocean City, which remains light years behind neighboring Atlantic Ocean resorts when it comes to family-friendly public health policies. In nearby Bethany Beach, Del., on the other hand, town officials have gotten a bit bolder. Three days earlier, the Bethany Beach Town Council voted 4-3 to extend the resort's seasonal ban on smoking at the boardwalk to a year-round prohibition.
NEWS
August 16, 2010
On summer weekends, the Ocean City beach can entertain a veritable sea of humanity as waves of tourists spread out across the sand on blankets and towels. The throngs of beachgoers are squeezed in so tightly, it's easy enough to discern a neighbor's brand of sunscreen by smell alone. Aside from rock concerts and frat parties, rarely are so many so densely packed. But in the midst of such a swelling crowd, smokers are, at best, an irritation on the order of sand flies and thunderstorms — but represent a far more serious health hazard.