There are smokers. Although, nowadays, they might be harder to find. The tables and bars of Athens have cleared out their ashtrays. The smoke at restaurants has also vanished, and “no smoking” signs on buildings serve as reminders of where there’s smoke…and where there’s not.
With the passing of the Smoke Free Workplace Act in November 2006, the rules about where people can smoke in public places and places of employment have changed. Ohio University students, store owners and Athens residents have noticed both immediate and gradual changes as the city has attempted to comply with the stipulations of Issue 5.
Here is a summary of the Smoke Free Work Place Act as it now applys to Athens:
- There is no smoking in public places or places of employment.
- “No smoking” signs must be posted at every entrance of every building where smoking is prohibited.
- Ashtrays and must be removed from any area where smoking is prohibited.
Although the Ohio smoking ban went into effect December 7, with 58 percent voter approval, the proposals for rules and penalties for the statewide smoking ban are still in the process of being decided by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH). Because these final rules are still being crafted, on February 27th, a public hearing will be held in Columbus, OH for Ohio citizens to propose to rules and make comments and suggestions about the smoking ban to the ODH. Still, whenever a law attempts to apply fines and penalties when a sweeping and sudden change is expected on such a scale, the effectiveness and enforcement of that law is always called into question.
What it comes down to is, if this IS the law that Ohio voters wanted, how happy are they with their decision? More importantly, if this is the right law, and many think it is, how harsh should we be on smokers? Or, how harsh can we be without being unreasonable. Where there's smoke... there's a 500 dollar fine? It's true that any respectable smoker wouldn't even pause between drags for only a lecture or a slap on the wrist. But you can't very well send Smokey Joe to jail for not standing the required 20 feet away from the entrance of a Starbucks either...
3 comments:
I think that if Ohio really wants to enact its smoking ban it will have to do so aggressively. While it make seem a bit ridiculous to fine someone in excess of $100 for smoking in an area where they aren't suppose to, I think it is necessary in order for the law to be taken seriously and for people to abide by it. I will be interested in hearing what happens at the public hearing next week, maybe the issue will finally be hammered out, I mean it only took a little over 2 months haha.
Over winter break, I covered some of the initial reactions of citizens in my hometown. It seems like Athens is complying better than most cities in Ohio. I would love to hear stories about students and bar owners in town to get another prospective. A lot of people voted to pass this law because they had no idea what they were voting on. Now many citizens are trying to over-ride the law through petitions. (You might be able to find a lot of these similar stories in Athens.)
Great job so far. :)
One link you may want to look into is a blog project done by a group of OU students this past Fall, when the election itself for the law was taking place.
http://ohioelections-issue4.blogspot.com/
They do a decent job of covering some reactions to the onset of the smoking ban.
While I personally have felt that the smoking issue was something that should be left up to the owners of the establishment, the public health perspective is always one that I am open to.
Some of my issue with the ban is that the enforcement bit was ambiguous at best when the law was passed. Making decisions without the best information can never lead to the best decision, I suppose at the end of the month, we'll get to see if this was even the better of the two choices.
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