Resolution Supporting Local Authority To
Protect Public Health
Whereas tobacco use and secondhand smoke
are public health hazards, especially to children, and cause
cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease, and are responsible,
each year, for the death of more than 53,000 nonsmokers in
the United States, including almost 2,000 in New Jersey, and
the death of more than 420,000 smokers in the United States,
including more than 11,000 in New Jersey; (1)
Whereas tobacco use is a safety hazard,
linked to increased fires and accidents; (2)
Whereas tobacco use imposes economic costs,
borne by governments, proprietors, and nonsmokers; (3)
Whereas smokefree air policies and laws
protect health and safety, and encourage everyone, especially
children, to live healthy, smokefree lives or smoke less,
and reduce costs; (4)
Whereas New Jersey state legislation controlling
tobacco use in workplaces and public places is
inadequate; (5)
Whereas the majority of New Jerseyans and
other Americans do not smoke; (6)
Whereas the majority of New Jerseyans and
other Americans support smokefree air in workplaces and public
places and the majority of Americans support local authority
to protect public health; (7)
Whereas 2,000 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; (8)
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; (9)
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; (10)
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; (11)
Whereas, in spite of that August 2000 Mercer
County court decision, New Jersey local governments have,
since September 2000, enacted more than 90 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; (12)
Now, therefore, be it resolved that [government
unit, organization, or other entity] 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.
[signature, name, title, date, address of
entity]
(1-12) For brevity, this version of this
resolution does not include footnote texts, citations, notes,
etc. A complete version, with citations, is available at www.njgasp.org
and as a printed document from New Jersey GASP, Group Against
Smoking Pollution, 105 Mountain Avenue, Summit, New Jersey
07901; 908 273-9368; fax: 908 273-9222; email: info@njgasp.org.
SEND COPIES OF SIGNED RESOLUTIONS TO NEW
JERSEY GASP (THE PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR), AND TO THE STATE LEGISLATORS
THAT REPRESENT THE SIGNING ENTITY.
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