Editorial: Smoking regulation is best left to locals

Thursday, March 25, 1999 | 10:33 a.m.

If tobacco industry lobbyists are to be believed, the sky will fall if local governments are allowed to determine when and where people may smoke in public places. The regulation of smoking currently resides with state government, but some local governments are supporting legislation that would allow them to strengthen the existing minimum requirements found in state law.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. lobbyist Harvey Whittemore didn't hesitate to use hyperbole when he denounced Assembly Bill 331 this week before a committee hearing in the Nevada Legislature. "The purpose of this bill is to ban smoking altogether all throughout the entire state," Whittemore said. What nonsense.

To alleviate fears that local governments would attempt to intrude in areas that have traditionally permitted smoking, Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny has proposed an amendment to AB331 that would prohibit local governments from passing regulations affecting casinos and bars.

For the tobacco industry, this is an issue of tactics. Keeping control of this issue in the Nevada Legislature, which meets for four months just once every two years, definitely is to the industry's advantage. It's much easier to keep anti-smoking legislation bottled up in the statehouse than it is to fight it in all of Nevada's cities and counties.

For local governments, this is an issue of public health. Nevada leads the nation in the percentage of smokers and is No. 1 in smoking-related deaths. And for nonsmokers, tobacco smoke is more than just an irritant, since second-hand smoke has been found to have adverse health effects.

If a local government believes there are more areas of smoking that should be restricted, then it should be given that opportunity. The Legislature should trust local governments, which meet frequently and are closest to the people, to handle this responsibility.

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