Local Authority Resolution Project --Resolution Supporting Local Authority To Protect Public Health

Citations for

Resolution Supporting Statewide Smokefree Air Legislation that Preserves Local Authority To Protect Public Health

Whereas tobacco use and secondhand smoke are public health hazards, especially to children, causing cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease, and are responsible for the death of more than 53,000 nonsmokers per year in the United States, and 2,000 in New Jersey, and more than 420,000 Americans who use tobacco, including more than 11,000 in New Jersey;

Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, "The Toll of Tobacco in New Jersey", State Tobacco Settlement. Retrieved May 4, 2004 from http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/TobaccoToll.php3?StateID=NJ.

Centers for Disease Control," New Jersey Highlights", Tobacco Information and Prevention Source. (2002) Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/statehi/html_2002/New_Jersey.htm.

Centers for Disease Control, "Fact Sheet, Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking", Tobacco Information and Prevention Source, (February 2004). Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/factsheets/HealthEffectsofCigaretteSmoking_Factsheet.htm.

Centers for Disease Control, "Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and economic costs-United States, 1995-1999", Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 51(14):300-303. (2002). Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5114.pdf.

Centers for Disease Control, "40th Anniversary of the First Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health", Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 53(03):39.(2004). Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5303a1.htm.

Delnevo CD, Hrywna M, Lewis MJ, Osinubi OYO, Ritch WA, Abatemarco DJ, Kaufman I, Malka ES. " Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, Independent Evaluation of the New Jersey Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program" Annual Update for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, New Brunswick, New Jersey, page 8. (2002). Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.state.nj.us/health/as/ctcp/annualreport03.pdf.

New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, New Jersey Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, 2001 Annual Report, pp. 3, 46. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.state.nj.us/health/as/ctcp/annualreport.htm.

American Heart Association, New Jersey Affiliate, North Brunswick, New Jersey, "1996 Fact Sheet" (1996). cited by Governor McGreevey in press release, (August 9, 2002). Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.state.nj.us/health/news/p20809b.htm.

Glantz S, Parmley W., " Passive Smoking and Heart Disease", JAMA,1024-1053. (1995).

Glantz S, Parmley W. " Passive Smoking and Heart Disease, Epidemiology, Physiology, and Biochemistry". Circulation, 83:1-12.(1991).

Centers for Disease Control, "Annual Deaths Attributable to Cigarette Smoking-
United States, 1995-1999" (2002). Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/overview/attrdths.htm.

ETS harm:

Centers for Disease Control, " Fact Sheet, Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke and Cotinine Levels", Tobacco Information and Prevention Source. Retrieved May 3, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/research_data/environmental/factsheet_ets.htm.

National Cancer Institute, "Health Effects of Exposure to Environment Tobacco Smoke", Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 10, Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute; (1999). NIH Pub. No. 99-4645. Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/monographs/10/m10_1.pdf.

National Toxicology Program, "10th Report on Carcinogens", U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, (December 2002). Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/roc/toc10.html.

Pirkle JL, Flegal KM, Bernert JT, Brody DJ, Etzel RA, and Maurer KR., "Exposure of the U.S. population to environmental tobacco smoke: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 to 1991", Journal of the American Medical Association, 275(16):1233-1240.(1996).

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders", Pub. No. EPA/600/6-90/006F. (1992). Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=2835.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, "Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General", Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, (2001). Retrived May 7, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_forwomen/index.htm.

Centers for Disease Control, "Annual smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and economic costs-United States, 1995-1999", Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 51(14):300-303. (2002).Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/wk/mm5114.pdf.

Whereas tobacco use is a safety hazard, linked to increased fires and accidents;

Fires:

Hall, John R., "The Smoking-Material Fire Problem (Executive Summary)", National Fire Prevention Association, (May, 2003). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.nfpa.org/PDF/OS.smokesum2.PDF?src=nfpa.

Leistikow, B., Martin, D., and Milano, C., "Fire Injuries, Disasters, and Costs from Cigarettes and Cigarette Lights; A Global Overview", Preventive Medicine 31, pp. 91-99 (2000). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://epm-leistikow.ucdavis.edu/SmokingFires.pdf.

The Hartford Insurance Company, "Fire Causes and Prevention", Fire Sense. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.thehartford.com/firesense/causes_prev/smoking.htm.

Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Fire Administration, National Fire Data Center, "Establishing a Link between Alcohol and Casualties of Fire", FA-173, p.19. (October 1999). [Nationally, fire-reporting agencies have identified smoking as the fifth most frequent cause of residential fires, the leading cause of fire fatalities, and the second most common cause of fire-related injuries.] Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.usfa.fema.gov/downloads/pdf/publications/alcohol.pdf.

Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Fire Administration, "Home Fire Safety", Fact Sheet: Facts on Fire, [Careless smoking is the leading cause of fire deaths.] Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.usfa.fema.gov/public/factsheets/facts.shtm.

Accidents:

Carlson, Regina L., Smokefree Air Everywhere, New Jersey GASP, pp. 20-21 (1997).

American Lung Association, "Smoking and the Workplace", Treatment Options and Procedures. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=23036.

Whereas tobacco use imposes economic costs, borne by governments, proprietors, and nonsmokers;

New Jersey Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program, 2001 Annual Report, pp. 5, 19. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.state.nj.us/health/as/ctcp/annualreport.htm.

Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, "The Toll of Tobacco in New Jersey", State Tobacco Settlement. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/TobaccoToll.php3?StateID=NJ.

Centers for Disease Control, "New Jersey Highlights" in "Tobacco Control State Highlights", Tobacco Information and Prevention Source, pp. 88-89. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/statehi/pdf_2002/NewJersey.pdf.

Whereas smokefree air policies and laws protect health and safety, encourage everyone, especially children, to be smokefree or smoke less, and reduce costs;

Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, "The Effect of Clean Indoor Air Ordinances on Smoking Prevalence and Cessation", (August 6, 2002). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.no-smoke.org/cessation.html.

Americans for Nonsmokers Rights , "Smokefree Air As a Youth Protection Strategy", (January 1, 2003). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.no-smoke.org/cia_as_youth_access.html.

Harvard School of Public Health , "Students Entering College as Nonsmokers 40 Percent Less Likely to Take Up Smoking When They Live in Smoke-Free Dorms", Press Releases, (March 22, 2001). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/press/releases/press03222001.html.

Caroline M Fichtenberg & Stanton A Glantz, "Effect of smoke-free workplaces on smoking behaviour: systematic review", British Medical Journal, (July 27, 2002). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/325/7357/188.

Americans for Nonsmokers Rights," Economic Impact of Smokefree Air Laws and Policies", (May 2003). Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.no-smoke.org/economic_impact.html.

Andrew Hyland, Vanaja Puli, Michael Cummings, and Russ Sciandra "New York's Smoke-free Regulations: Effects on Employment and Sales in the Hospitality Industry", Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, pp. 9-16. (June 2003).

Centers for Disease Control, "Targeting Tobacco Use: The Nation's Leading Cause of Death 2004", Office on Smoking and Health Summary 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/overview/oshsummary2004.htm.

Whereas New Jersey state legislation controlling tobacco use in workplaces and public places is inadequate;

· Places of Employment. NJSA 26:3D-23 et.seq. permits smoking in private workplaces with fewer than 50 employees per building. (Most workplaces in New Jersey have fewer than 50 employees.)
· Restaurants and bars. NJSA 26:3E-7 et.seq. permits smoking in any restaurant; only requires posting of a sign by the owner as to whether smoking is or is not allowed. (Many teens work in restaurants.) No state statute controls smoking in bars.
· Restaurants in government buildings. NJSA 26:3D-48c permits smoking in restaurants with fewer than 50 occupants; for sites with more than 50 occupants, requires a nonsmoking area of unspecified size to be designated by the manager in accordance with patron needs.
· Small retail food/marketing stores. NJSA 26:3D-32 et.seq. permits smoking in retail food and marketing stores with less than 4000 square feet of floor space.
· Private schools. NJSA 26:3D-17a permits smoking in private schools except in classrooms, lecture halls, and auditoriums.
· Child care centers. NJSA 30:5B-9(h) permits smoking when children are not present, permits smoking in child care centers when children are present if the smoking area is separately ventilated to the outside; permits smoking on the grounds. (In contrast, New Jersey state law prohibits smoking on all public school property and grounds.)
· Doctor's offices. NJSA 26:3D-11b permits smoking in all rooms of a doctor's office (patient consultation, examination rooms, employee areas, etc.), except the waiting room. Offices of psychotherapists, dentists, and chiropractors are excluded from the law and may have smoking everywhere in their offices.
· Healthcare facilities. NJSA 26:3D-8 through 9a permits smoking in healthcare facilities ("health care facilities" are defined in NJSA 26:2H-2(a) as rehabilitation centers, extended care facilities, skilled nursing homes, and other facilities) in (1) private rooms or rooms where all patients consent upon admission to permit smoking; (2) one waiting room, if there are multiple waiting rooms; (3) a portion of a waiting room, if there is only one waiting room, provided an adequate nonsmoking section is part of the room; (4) cafeterias seating 50 or more, provided there is an adequate nonsmoking section; and (5) totally enclosed offices used only by employees.
· Residential healthcare facilities. NJAC 8:43-6.1(a)6(i) through (iv) permits smoking areas in residential healthcare facilities.
· Casinos, sports facilities, bowling alleys, dance halls, roller rinks, etc. NJSA 26:3D-38 et.seq. permits smoking in casinos, race track facilities, football, baseball, and other sporting event facilities, facilities for boxing and wrestling exhibitions and performances, bowling alleys, dance halls, ice and roller skating rinks, and other establishments providing ambulatory recreation. (Children or senior citizens congregate and teens work in many of these places.)
· Taxis, limos, charter buses. NJSA 2C:33-13a through c permits smoking on group charter buses; smoking-permitted cars on trains; and limousines, livery service vehicles, and taxis occupied only by the driver. (A taxi or limo driver can smoke in the vehicle up to the moment they pick up a passenger.)

Whereas the majority of New Jerseyans and other Americans do not smoke;

Delnevo, C.D., Hrywna, M., Lewis, M.J., Osinubi, O.Y.O., Ritch, W.A., Abatemarco, D.J., Kaufman, I., and Malka, E.S., "Independent Evaluation of the New Jersey Comprehensive Tobacco Control Program: Annual Update for the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services", New Brunswick, New Jersey: University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Public Health, p. 10, (May 2003). Retrieved April 30, 2004 from http://www.state.nj.us/health/as/ctcp/annualreport03.pdf.

Centers for Disease Control, "Targeting Tobacco Use: The Nation's Leading Cause of Death 2004", Office on Smoking and Health Summary 2004. Retrieved April 30, 2004 from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/overview/oshsummary2004.htm.

Centers for Disease Control, "State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults ---United States, 2002", Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, (January 9, 2004)

Whereas the majority of New Jerseyans and other Americans support smokefree air in workplaces and public places and local authority to protect public health;

Carlson, Regina L., Smokefree Air Everywhere, New Jersey GASP, pp. 42-45 (1997).

Centers for Disease Control, "State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults, and Policies and Attitudes About Secondhand Smoke - United States, 2000," Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, (December 14, 2001).

McMillen, Robert C., Ph, D, Winickoff, Jonathan P., M.D., M.P.H., Klein, Jonathan D., M.D., M.P.H., and Weitzman, Michael, M.D., "U.S. Adult Attitudes and Practices Regarding Smoking Restrictions and Child Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Changes in the Social Climate from 200-2001", Pediatrics, pp. e55-e60. (July 2003). Retrieved April 30, 2004 from http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/112/1/e55.

New Jersey GASP, "Polls show New Jerseyans want smokefree workplaces, restaurants.
April 2000", Retrieved April 30, 2004 from http://www.njgasp.org/f1_poll.htm.

Opinion Research Corporation, "Caravan smoking laws: prepared for Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights," (February 29, 1996). [The poll, conducted in 1996, found 81% opposed preemption.]

Whereas 1,700 local governments throughout the United States have passed legislation that restricts smoking, and the majority of states do not preempt local smokefree air legislation;

Americans for Non-Smokers Rights, "Smokefree Ordinance Lists". Retrieved May 4, 2004 from http://www.no-smoke.org/lists.html.

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;

New Jersey Constitution, Article IV, Section 7, paragraph 11; NJSA 40:42-3, 40:42-4, 40:48-1 and 40:48-2.

Whereas local authority to protect public health is threatened by a powerful, nationwide campaign which seeks legislation to preempt (eliminate) local authority to control tobacco, and which uses lawsuits to challenge local authority to control tobacco use;

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Smoking and Health, "Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General - Executive Summary", (2000) ["The most important force for smoking is the totality of industry activity, including advertising, promotion, organizational activity, support for ancillary issues, and political action [emphasis added, New Jersey GASP], which maintains marketability and profitability of the product. Efforts to reduce tobacco use face a more than $5 billion annual budget that the tobacco industry dedicates to advertising and promotion aimed at sustaining or increasing tobacco use." (from the Foreword, pages i and ii) The "pervasive, countervailing influence of tobacco promotion by the tobacco industry [is] a promotion that takes place despite overwhelming evidence of adverse health effects from tobacco use." (Major Conclusions, p. 1)]

Americans for NonSmokers' Rights, "The Tobacco Industry on Why It Needs Preemption", (Dec. 15, 2002). Retrieved May 4, 2004 from http://www.protectlocalcontrol.org//files/TiPremptQuote.pdf.

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, in August 2000, the Mercer County Superior Court ruled that New Jersey law preempted the ordinance;

LDM, Inc. v Princeton Regional Health Comm'n, 764 A.2d 507 (N.J. Super. 2000)

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 do not enact legislation for fear of lawsuit;

New Jersey GASP, "Local Laws Advanced Search", [As of May 7, 2004, 109 ordinances were passed in 94 municipalities. To see a current list of New Jersey ordinances, use the date range search option to find ordinances passed since September 2000]. Retrieved May 7, 2004 from http://www.njgasp.org/d_search2.asp.

Personal communication from local governments representatives and colleagues.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that [government unit, organization, or other entity] supports New Jersey statewide smokefree air legislation for all workplaces and public places, provided such state legislation preserves local authority to enact stronger local smokefree air legislation.