Kaine Kicks Butts (Out of Restaurants) in Va.

Gov. Tim Kaine never ceases to impress, and his most recent action is no exception.  As of today (Dec. 1) smoking will be absolutely prohibited in restaurants, according to legislation Kaine signed earlier in the year.

            There are a few exemptions to the law, such as outdoor portions of restaurants, but this should greatly help the state of Virginia as far as health is concerned.  It is not only a sanitation issue within the establishments, but it is just a matter of respect for others.  If you wish to smoke, you may still do so, but this legislation does not force the family of five in the booth across from you at Applebee’s to inhale your cigarette’s smoke.  Approximately 3,000 non-smokers die every year at the hands of lung or bronchus cancer caused by secondhand smoke, and you aren’t helping by puffing a drag each minute into the face of an infant who is strapped into a highchair and has no chance to avoid the smoke.  Most smokers don’t realize where it is tailing off to, but usually it is right into someone’s face.

            Emory & Henry transfer student Ellen Smith says of the new law, “I think it is great.  I know that Virginia is practically the tobacco state, but personally, I don’t like tobacco, and just because I live in Virginia doesn’t mean that I should have to deal with it.”

            The American Lung Association issues grades to each state every year in the categories of smoke-free air, cessation coverage, tobacco prevention control and spending, and cigarette tax.  The Old Dominion State received Fs in all four areas in 2008.  This means that Virginia was one of the most lenient states in prohibiting smoking in public areas, offers no state funding for those who would like to use a drug such as Chantix or Zyban to quit, spent over $90,000 less than the ALA’s recommended input for prevention of excessive tobacco use, and has among the lowest cigarette taxes in the country at 30 cents per pack of 20.

Other states have put similar laws into place as long as 11 or 12 years ago.  Virginia is so behind in this aspect of awareness.

California implemented no-smoking laws in 1998 and has some of the cleanest air of any state.  According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, California ranked in the lowest intervals in both lung or bronchus cancer incidence rates and death rates in 2005.

New York, home state to New York City, one of the largest and most industrialized cities in the world, waited until 2003 to prevent restaurant and public smoking and was right there with California in rankings not even a full two years afterward.  In fact, New York was the only state to rank in the lowest interval east of the Mississippi River in 2005.  Currently, of the 26 states on this side of the Mississippi, only 11 have placed such restrictions on smoking.

Are these changes going to immediately place Virginia in the same ranks as California or New York?  They absolutely will not.  Cutting down on smoke-related disease and death is a very tedious, gradual process that is going to require much more legislative action to fully execute.  However, this is certainly a step in the right direction for the state of Virginia, and it is wonderful that Gov. Kaine squeezed this into his agenda before leaving office.

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