Las Vegas smoking opponents cut short

Art Nadler and Cy Ryan

Tuesday, March 23, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny felt shortchanged following Monday's legislative hearing on a bill that would give local authorities the right to set standards for smoking in public places.

Kenny, who is also a member of the Clark County Board of Health, is backing Assembly Bill 331, which would give counties power over the state in setting regulations. The Assembly Judiciary Committee, in a hearing simulcast to Las Vegas, heard from critics and supporters.

But the committee, short of time, did not hear everyone who wanted to speak.

"I was very disappointed that testimony was cut off," Kenny said. "We had (in Las Vegas) representatives from the Culinary Union, the Mormon church, Heart Association, Boys and Girls Clubs and doctors. There were 38 people who wanted to testify."

Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Sparks, said he had to limit the hearing, which lasted two hours.

Kenny brought about 50 students from Durango, Cimarron, Clark and Bonanza high schools to voice their support of AB331. One student who got to speak was I-Che Lai, student body president at Clark.

"What we want is not to cough every five minutes. What we want is to not have to go to a store to buy (oxygen) air," he said.

But the Nevada Resort Association, tobacco interests and a host of retailers opposed the bill. Harvey Whittemore, lobbyist for the association and R.J. Reynolds, said this bill was an effort to ban smoking in Nevada. He and others said the current state law is working because it reduces the incidences of businesses selling cigarettes to minors.

A similar bill was introduced two years ago and it never made it out of committee. Chances appear bleak this session also. Legislative sources say they doubt there is eight votes to get the bill out of the 14-member committee.

In an effort to gain support of casinos and bars, the group led by Kenny offered an amendment to the bill stating that local governments would not pass stricter laws against the major gambling clubs and taverns. Kenny said local governments want to restrict smoking in places where children and families visit.

Last month, the Clark County Board of Health voted to support AB331. Kenny said University Medical Center, the county hospital, had spent in excess of $12 million in 1998 to treat smokers.

Dr. Kazem Fathie, president of the Clark County Medical Society, said if people could see the lesions on a person's brain from smoking, they would never smoke again.

The most dramatic testimony came from Futzie Santos of Fallon, an elderly woman who said she started smoking at age 16 to defy her father. She contracted throat cancer and spoke to the committee through a voice box.

She said she stopped smoking during her three pregnancies but immediately resumed after the babies were born. Now, she said, her son must have a heart transplant, one daughter has asthma and allergies and another daughter has ovarian cancer.

Santos indicated the health problems with her children could be attributed to her smoking. And she said she makes the rounds of schools, telling students of the perils of smoking and urging them to shun cigarettes.

The committee did not set a specific date for voting on the bill, which was introduced by Assemblywoman Vivian Freeman, D-Reno, a retired nurse.

"Voters want control at the local level," Freeman said, adding that cities and counties are closer to the citizens.

North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Paula Brown, testifying in support of the bill, cited Nevada as the state with the highest rate of smoking deaths and the highest rate of youth and adult smoking in the nation. "The state record on tobacco is one of failure," she said.

Meanwhile Monday, the Las Vegas City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting Senate Bill 331.