RALEIGH
North Carolina legislators are debating new restrictions on smoking that would further marginalize tobacco in a state that remains the country's largest grower.
In their first hearing on the bill yesterday, legislators were told that secondhand smoke is not a trivial issue but a serious public-health problem.
"It's a health hazard. It's not a nuisance. It's not something that smells bad," said the state health director, Leah Devlin, who is leaving her post this week after eight years.
Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, is one of the main sponsors of the bill.
The bill, pushed by health advocates, would outlaw smoking in the workplace, including restaurants, and other public places.
About 24 states and the District of Columbia have approved laws banning smoking in nearly all work sites and public places, according to the American Lung Association.
A limited ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in tobacco-friendly Virginia passed earlier this month.
That growing tide against tobacco twice before seemed ready to reach into the N.C. General Assembly, where smoke-filled rooms were common 10 years ago. But legislation in 2005 and 2007 failed to bar secondhand smoke from workplaces around a state full of small towns that grew up alongside highly profitable tobacco farms.
In recent years, North Carolina legislators have banned smoking inside prisons, state government buildings and state-owned vehicles. Smoking is widely banned from offices where white-collar employees work.
But secondhand smoke is more common for blue-collar employees, and only about a third of the state's hospitality workers have a smoke-free environment, Devlin told the House Health Committee yesterday.
"Property rights are important, but your health rights are more important," Rep. Jeff Barnhart, R-Cabarrus, said.
The health committee is expected to resume its deliberations next week.
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