Smoke-free progress undone by SB 703

Publication Date: 2013-05-09

• Author:Gary Miner Sr.
• Publication:The Daily News

To the editor:

Sound the alarm — the smoke alarm!

In 2007, North Carolina implemented a very good law that allowed local authority for community colleges to decide whether their buildings and grounds should be smoke-free. Some have chosen to go completely tobacco-free. This was a great step forward the health of North Carolina — especially since we now have so many high-school students taking classes on community college campuses. Currently, most community colleges have taken local action to protect students and faculty from the dangers of second-hand smoke, but that could all change if a bill pending in the state Senate gains any traction.

Introduced recently, SB 703 would repeal all community college smoking regulations on their campus grounds and eliminate the choice that local community college trustees have in protecting the health of workers and students. That means that with the stroke of a pen, years of local work and effort would be undone in communities across our state — many miles from Raleigh and the state legislature.