Columnist Susan Snyder: Decisions cut through smoke screen

Friday, Nov. 8, 2002 | 8:58 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Fridays Sundays and Tuesdays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

Although ballot questions seeking to limit tobacco smoking were only advisory queries, advocates say they send a strong message to state lawmakers.

"It tells them that the people of the state of Nevada are saying that the Legislature is not doing what the people want," said Diane Hart, a Las Vegas resident among those who oppose smoking in grocery, convenience and drug stores.

"These are the places we have to do our daily living," Hart said the day after Tuesday's general election. "We will be using these as a pretty strong example of what people want."

Question 12 asked voters whether the Clark County Board of Health should be allowed to adopt regulations that are more stringent than state laws to protect people from the effects of secondhand smoke. And 57 percent of voters said "yes."

Question 13 asked whether state law should prohibit smoking in public places frequented by children, including grocery stores and restaurants that allow smoking in some areas. Voters approved of this idea by 67 percent.

Neither provision applies to businesses that exclude people younger than 21 or resort hotels.

"I think the approach was a pretty realistic one in terms of the casinos," Hart said.

Unfortunately, it was.

It's a shame that we adults who want to live and work and play without fouling our lungs with someone else's smoke, or who want to enjoy a cocktail and nice dinner without smelling like an ashtray afterward, have to cower behind children and genuflect to the almighty casino industry so we can be heard.

This is a health issue and not just for children with asthma. It's a health issue for anyone with lungs -- an issue state lawmakers did not want to address in the 2001 session.

Assembly and Senate versions of a measure that would have banned smoking from grocery stores or require them to put smoking areas in separate rooms died in committee hearings the last time around. That means they did not go to the main floor of either legislative body for discussion and vote.

Bill draft requests filed for the 2003 session set to begin in February include seven measures that address strengthening local smoking restrictions or regulation, sale and promotion of tobacco products. Two call for strengthening laws relating to secondhand smoke. One calls for increasing the excise tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products.

I can hear the whining already. But you have to pay to play.

Smokers aren't villains. Many of them respect the air space of those who don't smoke. Even my own mother, who has smoked all of her adult life and continues to do so in her 70s, knows her children's homes, cars and presence are no-smoking zones. If she wants to light up at our houses, she goes out on the porch without complaint.

I don't have to breathe her secondhand smoke, so I certainly don't think I should have to breathe anyone else's -- whether I'm a child in a grocery store or an adult in a restaurant.

"It's a fabulous beginning," Hart said of Tuesday's results.

But it is only a beginning. Let's hope our state lawmakers can bring it to an equally fabulous end for Nevada residents of all ages.