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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0746.002 2000-2002 Sep 16 02 07:21p p'i 6d®~~! 1 ®~Btl ~i.ai®"it ~ ~lJ~~~L~A ~~Y1I&9fi~ 245 N. Kukui Street; Suite 2C1 Honolulu, HJ 96817-3921 _ _ _ ; 7e1: (808) 595-7500 Fax: (808) 524-9072 ~Ve~ns ~a>ra- ~ Fax Tra~ns~nission ~ Total Pages 1'ransragitt~: 3 Amrricun Can;:erSoc•'ety Nuwui'i PuciJic, /nc. ~'Q; Couneil[rlernber $obby Jean Leithead-Todd; (808) 9bI-8912 Americ~nHeanAs'.rociation Councilmember Curtis Tyler; (808) 9b1-8912 nfHawa;'i Wally Iida., Legislative Auditor; (808) 961- ~ 2 Amrric'mt Lung As'sociution uj Ham" FROM: CIifford Chang Cancer Resear_'h Center of TIATE: September 16, 2002 Ha"wi•i Hawaii Suite Department u( Comments on the Hawaii County draft bill relating to smoking in EJucatiun public places Hawaii Srate Department of Hralth Aloha Councilmembers Leithead-Todd and Tyler, and Mr. Iida: Nuwai'i MrJical Aatcnc'intion Huwai'i MrJ1cu1 Services On behalf of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, thank you very riluch for A.croriatinn your support for smoke-free workplaces on the Big Island., Many thanks also to wai`anae caart Councilmember Tyler far sharing a copy of the most recent draft of the bill relating Crrmprrhrn,rive Heaf[h Center to the "smoking lri public places," and to Mr. Iida for sharing the first draft. We EusY Hawaii Tobacco Frrc appreciate very much the opportunity to review the bill and provide our convr~ents. Coalition Kauai Tnhaccv Frer 1. Is the intent to cover all workplaces? In my reading of the bill, it is not clear Canunnnin• caafttiun Whether the intent of the bill 1S to include all workplaces. In Section 14-20 (4) Maui Tobacco Frcc "Oefinitions" [page 1 ~ a "businesses" IS defined, but there IS no reference, as far aS I Partnership can tell, to "business" anywhere else in the bill. The Coalition strongly supports Wesr Hawaii Tobacco Free legislation that provides smoke-free workplace protection in all workplaces. CouUtion ~'~m~tt-a:-larb`~ 2. "A11 enclosed places within the Countv." On page 2, Section 14-21 FrrJHol,cchuh, MD "Prohibition of smoking in certain places", the bill specifies that "smoking shall be Matt Mutcungga, JD prohibited in all enclosed places within the County, including, but not limited to the Anthem Saguibn, 1D following places:" with the bill then containing a list of the variety of places that smoking is prohibited. The intent of the reference to "a11 enclosed places" may be to Efi~.abeth Tam, MD cover aD workplaces, but aS written, it seems to rile this language would prohibit smoking in any place that was enclosed, including private homes, automobiles, etc. - Sandra McGuinness Chair anywhere that could be construed to be an "enclosed place." I do not believe that is Coordinator, Maui'i'obxco the intent of the bill (although in theory this would be nice!). Again, if the intent of Free 1'artnetship this language is to make all workplaces smoke-free, we suggest that there be Kim Ku'ulei Birnie language that specifically states this. The Coalition strongly supports a policy that Vice Chair Hawa:S Primary Carc provides protection to all workers from exposure to second hand smoke in their Asociation workplace. Clifford Chang, MPH. CHES; Project Director 3. Including bars and ni htclubs. Section 14-21(a)(5) includes "restaurants, Funded in part by the Robert bars, nightclubs and bowling alleys" among the places the bill specifically indicates Wand Johnvon Fuuntlatiun p~ A®~o i AT h l~le ial~• f Ii~fs 'llaf~~~~f~ ~ ESL' l~f. I3a~:..~ d~oerR~sb Sep 16 02 07:21p P•2 Councilmembers Leithead-'Todd and Tyler; Mr Iida September 16, 2002 page 2 are to be smoke-free. As noted above, the Coalition strongly supports legislative policies that protect all workers from exposure to second hand smoke in all workplaces, including restaurants, bars and nightclubs {and bowling alleys). As much as we support bars and nightclubs becoming smoke-free, we also know that for an ordinance covering such workplaces to be successful, it is extremely important to have strong public support for this. As such, the Coalition will continue to build on an education campaign geared to the public and the business community that emphasizes that bars are also workplaces, that workers in bars are currently exposed to a tremendous amount of second hand smoke, and should have the same protection from exposure as all other workers. But we know, based on the experience in California and other places around the country where Laws cover smoke-free bars and nightclubs, that it takes time to change publi;; opinion and cultural norms regarding smoking in bars and nightclubs. The Americans For Non-smokers Rights Foundation [<www.no-smoke.org>] recommends that "In general, Work your rvay up the s~rc®kefree ladder. Don't introduce smokefree bar legislation if you haven't already enacted and lived for a while with smokefree workplaces and public places. While the scientific and economic impact data fully support smokefree bars, starting with bars may doom your efforts to failure. Educating the public and the business community takes time; changing public opinion and cultural norms to a point where smokefree bars will succeed takes time." At this time we have no data for the Big Island regarding how supportive the public is for smoke- free bars and nightclubs. As much as we would like to see ALL workplaces become smoke-free, we are cognisant that by including bars and nightclubs in proposed legislation prior to there being strong public support for this may result in many people not supporting the bill. We would ask that you consider carefully whether sufficient support exists among the Hawaii County Council members and the public at this time for the inclusion of smoke-free bars and nightclubs in this bill. The Coalition supported the passage of both the Honolulu and Maui ordinances which currently exempt bars and nightclubs, with the commitment to continue to work on a public education campaign in the coming year to solidify public support for smoke-free bars and nightclubs. As public support increases, the Coalition will be working for the inclusion of bars and nightclubs as smoke-free workplaces. The good news is that people in Hawaii strongly support smoke-free workplaces and restaurants. According to the statewide public opinion poll conducted by the Hawaii State Department of Health in November 2001, 80% of the adult Big Island residents (79% in East Hawaii, 81% in West Hawaii) support policies that provide for smoke-free workplaces. Specifically with regards to smoke-free restaurants, 68% of the adult residents in East I~lawai`i Sep 16 02 07:21p p'3 Councilmembers Leithead-Todd and Tyler; Mr Iida September 16, 2002 page 3 and 70% of the West 1~[awai`i adult residents support policies for smoke-free restaurants. Data regarding the public support for smoke-free bars and nightclubs is not available, but in general, based on surveys conducted in other places, as yet public support for smoke-free bars and nightclubs is not as strong. 4. Posting of Suns. We suggest that the language of Section 14-22 (a) "Posting of Signs" be revised to once again include the specification that the letters for the required signage be at least one inch high. This is the same as the Honolulu and Maui ordinances, and is the language of the proposed bill on Kauai. Without such a specification, workplaces are free to post whatever size sign they choose, including signs with lettering so small as to be not readable. For the same reason we also suggest that subsection (b) "alternate methods of notification" be revised so that such alternate methods can augment, but cannot replace, the required signage described under subsection (a}. Thank you again for the opportunity to provide comments on the draft. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or if I can provide you with any additional information regarding smoke-free workplaces. I can be reached by phone at 1-888-227-7107 ext. 116 (toll- free from the neighbor islands) or direct at (808} 432-9116. My email address is <clifford.chang C cancer.org>. I would appreciate it if you can let me know the schedule for the hearing this bill once it has been set. Sincerely,,~~ - ~f~ ~ ' CliffordL~hang, MPI-€, CHES cc: Julian Lipsher, Hawaii State Department of Health Dr. ]Fred I-Iolschuh Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii Policy Strategy Group Beth Kuch, Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii Toni Symons, Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii