Agenda - 02-19-2013 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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12 1 what they do with their bodies. She said that this goes beyond personal space. She said that if 2 you are close enough to smell tobacco smoke it can adversely affect your health. She said that 3 this ruling is essential. She said that this is the right thing to do. 4 Laurel McMullan attends UNC-Greensboro and said that she was part of a student 5 group who asked the Board of Health to help reduce secondhand smoke when she was in high 6 school. She said that each year 54,000 people die due to secondhand smoke. Secondhand 7 smoke can cause ear infections and asthma in children. 8 Melva Fager Okun has a doctorate in public health and has worked as a Senior 9 Program Manager at NC Prevention Partners for 11 years. She said that she is a national 10 expert in the area of tobacco free spaces. She also works with every hospital in North Carolina 11 to go 100% tobacco free campus wide. She said that North Carolina became the first state in 12 the nation to accomplish this. She spoke about the adverse effects of secondhand smoke. 13 She said that Durham County has already passed this resolution. She asked the County 14 Commissioners to please pass this. 15 Chair of the Board of Health Tony Whitaker thanked the students for encouraging this 16 resolution. He said that the Board of Health took up this matter formally as part of the 2012- 17 2014 strategic planning process. On October 24th, the Board of Health approved the smoke- 18 free public places rule. They are asking for the Board's support of this. 19 Matthew Kelm is a pharmacist member of the Board of Health. He spoke about his 20 personal experience with this rule in Durham County. He is a manager of a 24-hour hospital 21 pharmacy. There are 50 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that work for him. He said 22 that prior to his starting this job, about 10% of his staff were smokers. At this point, all but one 23 of his employees has either ceased smoking or is in a smoking-cessation program. He highly 24 recommends that the County Commissioners adopt this resolution. 25 Brinklee Bailey is a senior at Chapel Hill High School. She is also involved in Tobacco 26 Reality Unfiltered. She is in full support of this resolution in Orange County. She gave some 27 statistics of secondhand smoke. She particularly spoke about having smoke-free parks 28 because parks are full of children. 29 Stephanie Willis is the coordinator of Health Programs and Services at the Chapel Hill- 30 Carrboro City Schools. She acknowledged the work of the Orange County Health Department 31 Tobacco Reality Unfiltered program, which is a collaboration of the OCS and the CHCCS. She 32 said that this program has been a part of the overall substance abuse prevention program. She 33 said that the students have been taking part in peer education of middle school students of 34 tobacco education. She said that much of the funding for this has been cut at the state level 35 and some of the programs have been lost. 36 Kurt Ribisl is a professor at the UNC School of Public Health. He has also spent the last 37 18 years studying tobacco use prevention and control strategies. He is a strong supporter of 38 tobacco-free environments. He spoke about the dangers of cigarette butts such as the dangers 39 of children putting them in their mouths and the fact that they can kill wildlife. 40 Senator Ellie Kinnaird said that she is here in support of this ordinance. She said that 41 Orange County has been a leader in this state and nation and they should continue to be a 42 leader by passing this ordinance. She said that the cost to the state of smoking-related 43 illnesses is very high. She praised the students of TRU for getting the word out to their peers. 44 Representative Verla I nsko said that she recently received a letter from the North 45 Carolina Restaurant Association praising them for the smoke-free laws passed that affect 46 restaurants and bars. There has been an increase in patronization of restaurants since these 47 laws took effect. 48 Laura Parkinson was here representing the American Cancer Society. She spoke in 49 support of this resolution. 50