The new smoking ban goes into effect this weekend and will prohibit smokers from lighting one up in restaurants, bars and some areas with lodging establishments.
Lodging establishments that are affected by the new law can designate no more than 20 percent of their guest rooms as smoking rooms.
Sen. Bill Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat, was the top proponent in the North Carolina State Senate for the ban and says the main reason for the new law is to trump public health risks associated with second-hand smoking.
He lauded the bill as a major accomplishment for the state.
"From a public health standpoint, I think it is one of the most significant things we've done in recent times," Purcell said.
The big impetus for this change came from a 2006 Surgeon General report titled "The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke."
The report, issued by U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of developing heart disease by 25 to 30 percent and lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent, according to the report.
Carmona said this finding is of major public health concern as nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke and recommended the elimination of indoor smoking as even brief exposure to smoke can be a hazard.
"The evidence is just so obvious that it is dangerous to be exposed," Purcell said.
The initial movement towards a smoking ban started in house.
"When I came to the legislature 12 years ago, we had ashtrays on our desks," Purcell said.
As it became more obvious that smoking was unhealthy, the legislature first restricted smoking to portions of the legislative building. After the 2006 report came out on second-hand smoke, it was banned entirely in the legislative building and offices.
Legislators started hearing from other state employees, who felt the legislators were only protecting themselves with the ban. This led to a ban in smoking in all state buildings and offices.
Then concerns were raised about smoking in cars.
Some state employees complained that they would ride with smokers on state business but could do little about it as the smoker was often their boss.
There were also concerns about the resale value of the cars.
"We found out from the motor pool that they were having trouble selling the cars because they couldn't get those odors out, so we made the vehicles smoke free."
Smoking was then disallowed in all state vehicles.
This was then followed by the state allowing schools to create their own policies on smoking, which led to a universal rejection of smoking by individual North Carolina school systems.
This was followed earlier this year by a proposal to ban smoking in all restaurants, bars and workplaces in North Carolina.
While the bill passed the House without much clamoring, Purcell said victory in the Senate seemed uncertain.
"The thing that made this law difficult is that we have 65,000 jobs related to the tobacco industry in North Carolina," Purcell said.
N.C. is one of the top tobacco growers in the nation, according to the state senator. The tobacco industry has made significant contributions to the state, including the construction of major schools like Duke University and Wake Forest University, which made it a difficult sell.
Purcell said he found it ironic that Carmona was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush, but the push to ban smoking garnered little support from Republicans in Raleigh.
The Laurinburg Democrat remembered needing two more votes to get the bill to pass and pulled aside two opponents to the bill to see what he could do to get the bill passed.
Purcell agreed to an exception on the smoking ban for country clubs and the two men came on board, allowing the legislation to pass.
That compromise, which was key to the bill's passage, came under fire from some who felt the exception was elitist.
"People said you're letting the well-to-do people smoke and not us," Purcell said.
The Laurinburg legislator does not disagree with those critics, but was quick to point out that this compromise paved the way for the bill's approval.
He said that despite a narrow victory on the Senate floor and some angry voters back home, the push to ban smoking was worth it.
Purcell said since the General Assembly approved the ban, he has received praise from numerous constituents. Just hours before talking to The Laurinburg Exchange on Wednesday, for instance, someone stopped him as he was leaving a funeral and thanked him for his work in getting the bill passed.
The ban has also received a lot of attention, Purcell said.
"There has been a lot of interest nationally in what we have done in North Carolina as a tobacco state, although a number of other states, like New York, have had smoke free bars and restaurants for a long time," Purcell said.
The new law does not apply to cigar bars, non-profit private clubs, lodging establishments that do not serve food or drink for pay, and food service/lodging establishments that are exempt from the state sanitation laws.
When the N.C. General Assembly passed the new law it said “secondhand smoke has been proven to cause cancer, heart disease and asthma in both smokers and non smokers. In 2006, a report issued by the U.S. Surgeon General stated that there is no risk-free level of exposure to second-hand smoke.”
Establishments will be in compliance with the law if they post required signage at all entrances, remove all indoor ashtrays and ask smokers to step outside to smoke. Businesses that repeatedly break the law can be fined up to $200 per day.
Smokers who refuse to smoke outside can be fined $50 by local law enforcement for defying the law.
Salvia Divinorum
The state-wide smoking ban was one of two major bans engineered by Purcell in 2009. The other ban was salvia divinorum, a hallucinogenic herb that had yet to be regulated.
The North Carolina General Assembly voted earlier this year to classify the hallucinogen as a Class I controlled substance.
The plant is typically chewed or smoked to create hallucinations but has not been banned under federal law, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
"The thing I was concerned about is that you can buy and sell Salvia and it gives you a hallucination and the state didn't care," Purcell said. "We didn't put any big penalties on it, we just said that the state cares."
Salvia is still legal for use in landscaping.
Animal shelters
The law regarding animal shelters requires shelters to make each animal available for viewing by any person trying to locate a lost animal, and for public viewing to be available four hours a day, three days a week. The law allows shelters to place animals being held for the 72-hour period in foster care and, with the written approval of a licensed veterinarian, to euthanize animals prior to the end of the 72-hour holding period if the animal is seriously ill or injured.
Candy Bacon, director of the Richmond County Humane Society said her shelter has always followed the guidelines set forth by the state’s rabies statute, similar to the new state law, which says shelters have to hold animals for three days, 72 hours, until they are available for adoption or euthanasia, so this new law won’t be hard to comply with.
“Any animal that comes in we hold for a minimum of three days, if not longer,” Bacon said. “It’s surprising a bunch of other counties weren’t prepared for this. The way the rabies law was written said you should do this, but no one had clarified it, so this won’t be a problem for us.”
“If an animal comes in severely injured we wont let an animal suffer, especially if they’re beyond saving,” Bacon said. “As far as people’s pets coming to us, people need to call us as soon as possible. Don’t wait two or three days to call us. Sometimes we are the last ones people call. People are getting a little better about that now.”
Bacon said his shelter will be fine once this new law goes into effect because it has been the shelter’s practice since they opened their doors.
“We try and hold animals as long as we can but there are times we are slammed,” she said. “But thank goodness, we’re OK right now.”
State healthcare
The other law taking shape this year that will impact a lot of people is the new state health plan/good health initiatives.
Under this law, all state employees will see an increase in their deductibles, co-pays, prescriptions costs, a new mid-tier co-pay for chiropractor, mental health, substance abuse and physical, occupational and speech therapies, new specialty drug co-pay and utilization of a specialty drug vendor. The bill also eliminates the current in-network routine eye exam benefit under the plan.
Not only will state employees see the cost of their health insurance go up, if they are overweight or smokers, their premiums will rise even further.
Those state employees who are smokers will have to enroll in the “basic” plan and pay higher costs, or enroll in a smoking cessation program and sign up for the “standard” plan that only raises the current premiums by about $5.
As for those who are overweight, unless a doctor deems them healthy or they reach the maximum Body Mass Index number acceptable to the state’s new guidelines, the employees will have to stick to the basic plan, the one with the higher costs, until they lose the weight.
Other new laws include:
• The General Assembly modified the pledge taken by write-in primary candidates to reflect write-in eligibility.
• The Department of Health and Human Services is now required to educate the public on umbilical stem cells and umbilical cord blood banking.
• The Division of Criminal Statistics will now collect, maintain and publish statistics on the use of deadly force by law enforcement.
• Insurers are now required to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of Lymphedema.
• The funding of school construction through the first and second one-half cent sales and uses tax had been continued.
• The governing boards of local governments, which includes cities, counties, local board of education, unified governments, sanitary districts and consolidated city-counties, will be required to receive education on ethics and laws pertaining to local officials.
• Handicap placards will now have printed expiration dates to help with enforcement.
• New provisions have been put in place to ensure transparency in contracts between health benefit plans and health care providers.
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