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StumbleBill that weakens smoking ban gets Senate’s OK
Friday, April 17, 2009 | 2:45 p.m.
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Senate Bill
Beyond the Sun
CARSON CITY – A bill to weaken an anti-smoking initiative approved by the voters has been passed by the Senate 14-5.
Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said Senate Bill 372 does not ignore the will of the voters. Amodei said sometimes initiative petitions approved by the voters need “tune-ups.”
Violations of the measure would carry a fine of up to $2,000, he said.
But Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, said “The people voted to protect themselves from future health harms. We owe it to our constituents to uphold their decision.”
“I believe the proper way to change this law is to have the tavern industry put this back to an initiative process and make their position know; maybe it will be presented better this time,” Lee said.
Tavern owners told the Legislature they lost up to 25 percent of their business after voters in 2006 approved the initiative to curtail smoking.
Opponents said the lost business could be due to a downturn in the economy.
The bill, which goes to the Assembly, provides that taverns or saloons that have a gambling license can permit smoking, but they must keep children out of the business. It would also permit smoking in a convention that is not open to the public, is devoted to the tobacco or convenience store business and involves the display of tobacco products.
A spokesman for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority testified earlier to a Senate committee that it lost two conventions because of the smoking prohibition.
The no-smoking law would still be in effect in child care facilities, movie theatres, indoor places of employment, malls and retail establishments, all areas of grocery stores and indoor areas in restaurants.
The measure takes enforcement authority away from local governments and transfers it to the state.
The 2006 initiative petition is now before the Nevada Supreme Court. A district court judge ruled the initiative was legal but not subject to criminal penalties.
Voting against the bill were Lee and Sens. Bernice Mathews of Reno and Shirley Breeden, Valerie Wiener and Joyce Woodhouse, all of Las Vegas.
Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, abstained because a member of the law firm he works for lobbied for the bill. So did Barbara Cegavske. R-Las Vegas, whose husband is in the slot machine business.
The Senate also approved 21-0 Senate Bill 383 to require a business where cigarettes are sold to post a sign in a conspicuous location that smoking during pregnancy is dangerous.
The bill carries a fine of $100 and the signs must be posted before Dec. 31.
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There is still freedom is the USA. And for you non smokers, go find a non smoking restaurant.
A move in the right direction. Congrats to both parties. Still, they should have allowed smoking in establishments with clear and closed smoking sections which also had ventilation.
How about more important things like the fact that KFC going Grilled thats right they are going to stop frying the chicken. Now thats news! Man oh man whats the world coming too?????
Having family in the funeral business for more than 55 years, I can assure you that deaths due to shs are next to nonexistent. The exaggerated claims made by tobacco control really need to be investigated. The conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical companies pushing nicotine cessation products also needs to be investigated. I believe the entire marketing of smoking bans is a scam with a huge profit motive.
Stand up to the propaganda Nevada!
Worried about your right to breath clean air?
It's not in;
your homes because of the materials it's built from.
your own Kitchen because of cleaning products.
your yard because of the insecticides you spray.
your car because of the materials used in the upholstery and the fumes that come into your car while driving.
Nowhere outside because of the pollution due to gas/diesel engines.
See chart. http://www.burningissues.org/comp-emmis-...
Ignore the fact that the EPA Report was vacated as fraudulent.
Ignore over 250+ studies showing no harm from SHS.
They don't tell us that living close to major traffic hi-ways or large Urban areas increase the incidence of Cancer or Heart Disease by 50% or more.
Ignore the businesses going broke across the Country because of Bans.
We do have, agencies using misinformation to control others for profit not health.
Smoking Studies.
http://encyclopedia.smokersclub.com/163....
Since everyone over 30 has been raised around SHS/ETS,and SHS/ETS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SO DEADLY, why are Baby Boomers the longest living of all generations? Why, since smoking has dropped from 54% to 24%, are all the diseases supposedly caused by smoking, on the rise every year? California has the oldest smoking ban and their Asthma rate is 16% and Kentucky has only a 6% rate of Asthma with the highest rate of Smoking? Why do Anti's still say SHS/ETS KILLS, when the EPA Report they base their statements on was found to be a FRAUD by Federal Judge Osteen and two Congressional Committees? Why, did the longest/largest studies by the ACS and the WHO find SHS/ETS had no connection to Cancer or Heart Disease? Why are there more than 250 other studies with the same findings?
Why can't the Anti-smokers find or admit to any of these studies?
Could it be because of the Billions to be made from the sale of Smoking Cessation Products, when their own studies show that quitting Cold Turkey is more effective?
Could it be because Profit is more important to them than Health?
Clearly SHS/ETS is not the Health threat they make it out to be.
So, why are Smokers being treated like Second Class Citizens? This smells like it's all about smell and discrimination caused by Greed.