Resolution Supporting Local Authority to Protect
Public Health Through Regulation of Smoking
Whereas tobacco use and secondhand smoke are public
health hazards;
Whereas tobacco use is a safety hazard, linked to increased
fires and accidents;
Whereas tobacco use imposes economic costs, borne by
governments, proprietors, and nonsmokers;
Whereas smokefree air policies and laws protect health
and safety, and reduce costs;
Whereas the majority of New Jerseyans and other Americans
do not smoke;
Whereas 1,700 local governments throughout the United
States have passed local legislation that restricts
smoking, and the majority of other states do not preempt
local smokefree air legislation;
Whereas New Jersey has a strong home rule tradition,
and its Constitution and legislation authorize local
governments to enact legislation to protect public health,
safety, and welfare;
Whereas local authority to protect public health is
threatened by a powerful, nationwide campaign that seeks
legislation to preempt (eliminate) local authority to
control tobacco, and that uses lawsuits to challenge
local authority to control tobacco use;
Whereas, in June 2000, the Princeton Regional Health
Commission enacted a smokefree air ordinance, was sued
by the National Smokers Alliance along with two restaurants
and a bar, and, in August 2000, the Mercer County Superior
Court ruled that New Jersey state law preempted the
Princeton ordinance;
Whereas, in spite of that August 2000 Mercer County
court decision, New Jersey local governments have, since
September 2000, enacted more than 70 ordinances controlling
smoking outdoors and 15 ordinances controlling smoking
indoors, yet other New Jersey local governments report
they have not enacted legislation because of uncertainty
about their authority and fear of lawsuit;
Now, therefore, be it resolved that _______________
supports New Jersey state legislation to repudiate or
repeal any preemption of local smokefree air legislation,
and to reiterate or restore the authority of local governments
to enact and enforce local controls on tobacco use to
protect public health.