State set to ban smoking in all of its facilities

Publication Date: 2007-11-01

• Author:David Anderson
• Publication:Kinston Free Press

The leaders of a state where tobacco was once king have decided that all buildings or sec-tions of buildings owned, leased or rented by North Carolina agencies must be smoke-free beginning Jan. 1, 2008, according to a statement released Thursday.

"State employees who smoke need to know they will no longer be permitted to do so in state government facilities, including leased office space," Administration Secretary Britt Cobb said in the statement. "For those interested in quitting, this change might be just the motivation to succeed."

Gov. Mike Easley signed the smoking ban on July 8 after the state Senate passed it in June and the House did the same in March.

Legislators drew on information in a 2006 report from the U.S. Surgeon General and the findings of the state's Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Task Force, which detailed the health risks of second-hand smoke.