County renews bid to get local control over tobacco rules

Adrienne Packer

Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 | 11:09 a.m.

After one failed effort at gaining local control over tobacco restrictions, some elected Clark County officials believe their latest attempt may result in a lucky strike.

The county has approved a resolution asking the Legislature to overturn a law that prohibits local governments from implementing stricter smoking regulations. Next week, the valley's five cities will consider making the same request.

But wresting control from the state is no easy task.

Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, tried unsuccessfully to erase Nevada from a list of only 13 states in the nation that do not allow local governments to implement their own smoking restrictions.

This time, Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera, who was a member of the 1997 Legislature that rejected a request for local government control, is confident the county will be successful.

"During last session, it wasn't a policy decision," Herrera said. "It was a political decision because of the conflict between the county and the Legislature."

Regional planning and Sen. Dina Titus' "ring around the valley" dominated discussions last session. The county, which was accused by some legislators of poor long-term planning, was feuding with lawmakers.

"There are a lot of arguments that can be made in favor of local control," Herrera said. "I'm a firm believer in the fact each county has different needs, so a decision should be made at a local level."

The R.J. Reynolds tobacco company has strongly opposed local governments gaining control over restrictions.

With the Legislature overseeing smoking laws, the tobacco giant needs one lobbyist to track proposed bills every two years when the state lawmakers meet. Local control would require the company to watch over every city and county in the state, a more expensive endeavor.

"That is the heart of the issue," state health officer Randall Todd said Wednesday. "Of course, the tobacco industry would rather send a lobbyist to one entity; otherwise, it's a bigger headache."

Todd pointed out that other major industries must comply with local laws. For example, Nevada cities and counties do not have to allow gaming or prostitution in their jurisdictions. "Building codes -- any business that builds something has to comply with local codes," Todd said, citing another example. "Nobody has argued that, for the convenience of one-stop shopping, they should set regulations at the state level.

"The question is: Should it (the convenience) exist for the tobacco industry? I don't know."

The battles R.J. Reynolds lost with other states have resulted in stricter regulations, such as smoking bans in restaurants and bars. But the laws in states with local control vary from county to county and city to city.

Harvey Whittemore, a prominent lobbyist for R.J. Reynolds and the Nevada Resort Association, said allowing local government control would be unfair to casinos and the tobacco industry.

"We don't want our products being regulated in Clark County on the Strip vs. having restrictions that are prohibitive outright downtown," Whittemore said. "We don't need those types of district control. We need a policy established on the state level and go from there."

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny, who devoted much of her first term to air-quality issues, introduced the resolution for local government control last week.

She emphasized she has no intention of adding restrictions to those that already exist, such as no smoking in public buildings, buses, lobbies, doctor's offices, grocery stores and day-care centers.

Kenny said she feels foremost that local government should be able to react to its constituents' concerns and that smoking in Clark County is costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

Last year, the uncompensated costs for tobacco-related diseases treated at University Medical Center came to $12 million. And in 1998, one of five deaths in the county was related to smoking, according to the Nevada Health Division.

"My question is, if the system we have in place is so successful, why are our numbers, statistics, disease rates and death rates so incredibly high?" Kenny said.

Whittemore insisted he would trust Clark County officials with control now, but he is uneasy about smoking laws that could be implemented by future officials.

The Reno lobbyist doubts that the county's latest recommendation will pass anyway.

"Quite frankly, I think what they're going to have to do is get a bill amended, and I don't think there will be a significant appetite for that," Whittemore said.

When the commission passed the resolution 7-0, its members said they can better identify the needs of Clark County residents -- 72 percent of whom are nonsmokers -- than the state.

When asked whether he believed restaurants would be next on the list of smoke-free businesses, as has been the trend in other states, Todd said it is difficult to predict.

"It could vary from community to community if each had the ability to determine for itself where the biggest problem was," he said. "They could go after restaurants or private work sites. It depends on what the appetite is locally."

Owners of the Silver City casino on the Strip probably would say that there isn't a great preference for nonsmoking gaming businesses. It prohibited smoking for three years and said it was a "business decision" to lift the ban in 1994.

A 1996 study conducted by a professor from the University of Nevada, Reno, indicated that the Nevada economy would plummet by $1.9 billion in five years if a smoking ban were placed on casinos.

The study projected that the state could lose as many as 50,000 jobs over a five-year period.

Andrea Reitan, deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, emphasized that Clark County must be careful because the Strip is a destination point for tourists from Asia and Europe, where smoking is popular and restrictions are rare.

"They should tread lightly on any county ordinance that deals with smoking," Reitan said. "Las Vegas and Clark County have to consider their international visitors. We don't want to randomly make laws that don't consider tourists because that's the engine that's driving us."

If local governments were given control of tobacco restrictions, the Clark County Health District -- whose board includes representatives from each valley jurisdiction -- would decide what additional regulations to put in place.

Donald Kwalick, chief health officer for the district, said his agency would hold public hearings and workshops before implementing any new laws.