Minutes 11-20-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Health Director Colleen Bridger introduced this item. She said that the high points are that the Board of Health passed a rule to prohibit smoking in public places, which is defined two ways. First of all, if it is a business where the public is invited indoors, those businesses would be smoke-free. The second group of smoke-free public places would be all of the property and grounds owned by Orange County government or the municipalities - sidewalks, vehicles, grounds, and facilities. She said that if the Board of County Commissioners approves this, the implementation would take effect January 1, 2013 for a soft implementation and then effective July 1St full implementation would occur. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ariel Smith said that she has been involved with Tobacco Reality Unfiltered and tobacco prevention work for the past two years. She asked how much people valued the right to choose what they do with their bodies. She said that this goes beyond personal space. She said that if you are close enough to smell tobacco smoke it can adversely affect your health. She said that this ruling is essential. She said that this is the right thing to do. Laurel McMullan attends UNC-Greensboro and said that she was part of a student group who asked the Board of Health to help reduce secondhand smoke when she was in high school. She said that each year 54,000 people die due to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause ear infections and asthma in children. Melva Fager Okun has a doctorate in public health and has worked as a Senior Program Manager at NC Prevention Partners for 11 years. She said that she is a national expert in the area of tobacco free spaces. She also works with every hospital in North Carolina to go 100% tobacco free campus wide. She said that North Carolina became the first state in the nation to accomplish this. She spoke about the adverse effects of secondhand smoke. She said that Durham County has already passed this resolution. She asked the County Commissioners to please pass this. Chair of the Board of Health Tony Whitaker thanked the students for encouraging this resolution. He said that the Board of Health took up this matter formally as part of the 2012- 2014 strategic planning process. On October 24th, the Board of Health approved the smoke- free public places rule. They are asking for the Board's support of this. Matthew Kelm is a pharmacist member of the Board of Health. He spoke about his personal experience with this rule in Durham County. He is a manager of a 24-hour hospital pharmacy. There are 50 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians that work for him. He said that prior to his starting this job, about 10% of his staff were smokers. At this point, all but one of his employees has either ceased smoking or is in a smoking-cessation program. He highly recommends that the County Commissioners adopt this resolution. Brinklee Bailey is a senior at Chapel Hill High School. She is also involved in Tobacco Reality Unfiltered. She is in full support of this resolution in Orange County. She gave some statistics of secondhand smoke. She particularly spoke about having smoke-free parks because parks are full of children. Stephanie Willis is the coordinator of Health Programs and Services at the Chapel Hill- Carrboro City Schools. She acknowledged the work of the Orange County Health Department Tobacco Reality Unfiltered program, which is a collaboration of the OCS and the CHCCS. She said that this program has been a part of the overall substance abuse prevention program. She said that the students have been taking part in peer education of middle school students of tobacco education. She said that much of the funding for this has been cut at the state level and some of the programs have been lost. Kurt Ribisl is a professor at the UNC School of Public Health. He has also spent the last 18 years studying tobacco use prevention and control strategies. He is a strong supporter