Smoking

The Howard County Council overrode the executive's veto last night and banned smoking nearly everywhere beginning in mid-1996, giving the county one of the toughest anti-smoking laws on the East Coast.The bill toughens smoking restrictions in 60 days, but delays the total ban until July 1, 1996. After that date, the only smoking allowed in public will be in overnight truck stops, retail tobacco stores and in self-enclosed, separately ventilated bar areas of restaurants."It's been a long struggle," said 3rd District Democrat C. Vernon Gray, the bill's chief architect.

In addition to the 10 measures outlined in the article, "Injury-prevention laws save lives, study says," (May 23), I believe a ban on smoking in Maryland is also a no-brainer. You can't walk anywhere in Maryland without having to inhale toxic cigarette fumes. It seems more people than ever are smoking in front of buildings everywhere with no concern about the effect on others who need to go in and out of buildings or who simply want to take a walk. People are even smoking in front of children near the schools in our neighborhood.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer's recent announcement that he intends to ban smoking in executive-branch offices is an overdue recognition of the health hazards posed by tobacco smoke in the work place. Maryland's high cancer death rate inevitably is linked to such known cancer-causers as cigarette smoking.The governor's move is, indeed, a healthy step toward persuading smokers to limit or cease their consumption of tobacco while also providing a less polluted working environment for tens of thousands of non-smoking state employees.

It is inexcusable for your reporter to refer to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine as "a physicians group" ("Doctors group says no junk food for the Obamas," May 7). The article not only fails to identify PCRM for what it is - an activist group devoted to promoting a vegan lifestyle - but goes on to parrot their agenda by suggesting thatMrs. Obama's choice to eat a cheeseburger is unhealthy. Worse, it repeats PCRM's crude analogy of eating a slice of pizza to smoking a cigarette.

Washington's best-known chain smoker is Speaker of the House John Boehner. Its best-known sneak smoker is President Barack Obama. Mr. Boehner is tired of being queried about his habit, saying to Chris Wallace of Fox News, "Why is this a topic? Leave me alone. " The White House, on the other hand, has been adhering to a policy of trying to keep the presidential puffing from being a topic by ignoring questions about it. However, on Tuesday, First Lady Michelle Obama ignited more talk about her husband's reputed five-cigarette-a-day habit by saying he has stopped smoking.

In Steve Kilar's article "Families, neighbors mourn lives cut short" (Jun 15) about the deaths of teenage friends Courtney Angeles and Emerald Smith after they were struck by a hit-and-run driver, he states "Outside Courtney's home, mostly young mourners smoked cigarettes to calm their nerves. " There is no medical proof that cigarette smoking in young teens calms nerves. Implying this may cut other young teens' lives short, though. And trust me, they won't be dying calmly. G.P. Webb

The welfare of each of us is dependent fundamentally upon the welfare of all of us.-- Theodore Roosevelt THE Montgomery County Council recently took a bold step to protect the health of Maryland's citizens and visitors by approving an ordinance that will reprimand anyone who smokes or discards tobacco products on sidewalks, lawns or other areas of Friendship Heights. The council understands its obligation to protect citizens from hazardous conditions. This is a critical action toward reducing death and disease caused by smoking and is no less meaningful than attempting to get the cocaine out of crack-infested areas.

The North Point Library is offering a free six-week course to help smokers quit. Greta Brand, a health consultant, will lead the weekly one-hour sessions that start at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The class, paid for with a grant from the Tobacco Restitution Fund, includes free nicotine gum, patches and lozenges. Registration is requested. The library is at 1716 Merritt Blvd. Information: 410-887-7255. mary.gail.hare@baltsun.com Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

On weekday mornings, I'll post the most controversial, shocking and (of course) ridiculous stories for your reading pleasure. That way, when you walk into work, you'll be the master of witty conversation. National • Really, Canada? Smoking is the least of your Charlie Sheen worries: Canada warns Sheen n ot to smoke on stag e. (CBC News)  • Shocker. It's all about ratings? Trump might announce presidential intentions on "The Apprentice. " (Yahoo News)

Smoking should be banned in enclosed shopping malls, say a majority of 600 callers to SUNDIAL, who favor the idea by a vote of 320 to 280 (53 percent vs. 46 percent).However, only 259 of 598 callers, or 43 percent, agree that government has the right to ban smoking in private malls. Most of the respondents, 339, or 56 percent, say smoking restrictions should be up to the mall owners.

Howard County fire fighters put out a one-alarm fire that was reported early Wednesday morning inside a state-owned vehicle repair shop in Dayton. According to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services, crews responded to an alarm around 3 a.m. in the 4400 block of Route 32 and found a vehicle on fire inside the repair shop, causing heavy smoke. The six-bay garage is owned and operated by the State Highway Administration. The fire was extinguished within half an hour, causing little damage to the building and no reported injuries, according to the fire department.

A third of Baltimore households aren't clear on their smoke alarm coverage, according to a new study from the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy . Most of those misreporting their coverage overestimate the working alarms. They think they work because they aren't beeping or they assume they have more alarms than they do. Some may have told investigators what they thought they were supposed to. “Forty percent of all residential fire deaths in the U.S. occur in homes with no smoke alarms, and another 23 percent occur in homes where an alarm is present but not functioning,” said study author Wendy Shields, an assistant scientist with the center, part of the Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health . “Our study suggests relying upon self-reports of smoke alarm coverage is not an accurate way to measure whether homes are protected.” She noted the National Fire Protection Association recommends that homes have a smoke alarm inside and outside every bedroom and on every level.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched an ad campaign to show the damage done from smoking to smokers and their families. The ads began March 19 on television, radio, online and billboards, as well as in theaters, magazines and newspapers nationwide. Called “Tips from Smokers,” the campaign will show former smokers living with diseases and disabilities. Specifically, the smokers suffer from lung and throat cancer, heart attacks, strokes and other diseases.

The Maryland Senate passed a bill Wednesday morning that would make it illegal for a driver or passenger to smoke in a vehicle occupied by a child under 8 years old. Senators voted 27-19 to send the bill to the House of Delegates after a lively debate over the rights of children to be protected from the dangers of second-hand smoke versus the rights of parents to be free from government intrusion in their vehicles. The legislation would allow police officers to pull over drivers observed to be smoking in cars with a child in a booster seat.

Baltimore County firefighters have joined other officials in reminding the public to check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors this weekend when you change your clocks for Daylight Savings time (this Sunday at 2 a.m.). The firefighters suggest checking the batteries twice a year, in the spring and fall, when we reset the clocks. They say the smoke alarms are the best way of preventing house and apartment fire deaths. And carbon monoxide detectors can alert you to a deadly odorless gas produced by fuel-burning appliances.

 A bill that would ban smoking in vehicles occupied by children under 8 survived an attempt to love it to death on the Senate floor Friday morning as proponents managed to reverse the vote on an amendment that probably would have doomed the legislation. The cruicial test came on an amendment offered by Sen. John Astle, an Annapolis Democrat, to change the age limit on the bill so that the law would have protected all minors under 16. Astle chacterized the amendment as an improvement to a "bad" bill.

Spurred on by a group of students, the Harford County public school system this week became the first in Maryland to prohibit tobacco use in its buildings and vehicles. The ban, which affects school employees, takes effect July 1 with tobacco use to be allowed only in outside designated areas. Students already are barred from smoking on public school property statewide, and the state Board of Education is considering a bylaw to prohibit smoking in all public school buildings.The Evening Sun would like to know what you think.

Republican senators sent strong signals Tuesday that they intend to put up a fight over a bill that would ban smoking in a vehicle occupied by a child under 8 -- a proposal some GOP lawmakers see as an intrusion into people's private space. The legislation, sponsored by Montgomery County Democratic Sen. Jennie Forehand, won 7-4 approval last week from the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, but the bill ran into skeptical questioning as it made its first appearance on the Senate floor for the adoption of amendments.

The Sun's article on Catholic bishops' opposition to the Obama administration's requirement that religious schools and hospitals include contraceptives in their health insurance plans was one-sided and unfair ("Obama's 'accommodation' wins support in birth-control debate," Feb. 11). First, providing birth-control to people without proven medical conditions is a pure "give away" of precious medical funds. If this plan is reasonable, why not support "public/private safety" by providing everyone with cell phones?