Special Offer Beverly Blue Cigarettes Beverly Blue Cigarettes $1250 Buy Now

Catalog

Tell a Friend
Whitelisting Email Address
Payment Instructions

Anti-smoking Bill

The Republicans who control the Alabama Legislature like to brag about how fast they can pass bills they believe are important to Alabamians.

Where one issue is concerned, they're no better than the Democrats who preceded them.

Since the start of the session in March, a strong bill sponsored by Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Indian Spring, that would regulate cigarettes use and cigarette smoking cigarettes has awaited action in the House. Then in April, state Sen. Vivian Figures, D-Mobile, dropped a nearly identical bill in the Senate.

We'd like to think that because Figures has worked hard to pass what's known as the "Smoke Free Air Act" for more than a dozen straight years, the House respected her efforts and wanted her Senate bill to be the one to move. More likely, however, is the House has no intention of dealing with this bill.

Even the Senate is pretty reluctant. Figures introduced the bill April 7; it didn't get through the Senate Health Committee until May 5, the last day the Legislature met before taking a two-week break to discuss reapportionment issues.

So when the Legislature reconvenes Tuesday, there will be all of seven legislative days left to pass a strong anti-smoking cigarettes policy. That's just enough time for lawmakers to argue they just didn't have enough time.

Don't let them get away with it. They've had all session; even if they wanted to wait for Figures' bill to be the one, out of respect for her many years' efforts on the issue, there is plenty of time.

Even with only seven days left, there's enough time. Figures' bill needs Senate action, then it can move to the House. But don't hold your breath.

The reluctance of lawmakers to pass a real anti-smoking cigarettes policy is a mystery. Secondhand smoke cigarettes causes a variety of diseases and kills. If somebody wants to expose himself to secondhand smoke, that's up to him. But involuntary exposure by workers in restaurants, bars and elsewhere is harmful, yet workers don't have many choices.

Some cities have passed strong local laws, but even so, only 3.4 percent of Alabamians live in communities with totally smoke-free workplace, restaurant and bar laws, according to the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation, in a story reported by News staff writer Jeff Hansen.

The lack of action by the Legislature has even led the Jefferson County Board of Health to urge all Jefferson County cities to pass 100 percent smoke-free laws. Only Fairfield has such a law; Homewood bans smoking cigarettes in bars and restaurants. Other cities usually allow an exception for bars.

But why? Barely more than 22 percent of Alabama adults are smokers. There's little business reason to allow an exception, yet there are all sorts of health and financial reasons to adopt a 100 percent smoke-free policy statewide. The Board of Health, in the resolution urging cities in Jefferson County to pass tough anti-smoking cigarettes laws, reported an average of 7,400 smoking cigarettes-attributed deaths in Alabama each year, with lost productivity from premature death at $2.1 billion a year. The annual medical costs in Alabama related to smoking cigarettes are estimated at $1.5 billion. More than 800 Alabamians die from diseases caused by secondhand smoke cigarettes every year.

Half the states and the District of Columbia already have tough smoking cigarettes policies. It's time for Alabama to join those ranks.

Other cigarettes news and tobacco market events you can find at links bellow:

   • Cigarettes & Tobacco News

   • Cheap Cigarettes & Tobacco News

   • Discount Cigarettes Tobacco News