Humble, Texas is on the outskirts of Houston to the north east. It's a common city to frequent for those living in Atascocita and Kingwood. A recent meeting of the Humble City Council had a smoking ban ordinance on the docket. The ordinance outlined increasing the smoking ban to include more public facilities into the current definition. The ordinance was passed with a 5-1 vote.

As outlined in the document; all restaurants, pool or billiard halls, gaming halls, bingo parlors, movie theaters, auditoriums, shopping malls, educational offices, child care facilities, some bars, and both enclosed and open-air sporting facilities are now included in with the ban. The exclusions to this list include homes, tobacco outlets, tobacco stores, and bars in operation prior to March 1, 2012.

Humble City Manager, Darrell Boeske stated, "We didn't jump in here on the first day. We are last to get on the bandwagon." Following discussing that larger cities have enacted smoking bans covering the same facilities and stressing that the concept is hardly new. Continue Reading

Pitt County Health Department is appealing a district judge's decision to reverse smoking fines against four local bars that allow smoking indoors.

A comprehensive smoking ban went into effect on January 2, 2010 that included banning smoking in restaurants and bars with the exception of private clubs operating as nonprofits.

The latest case is an appeal of a decision by Pitt County District Court Judge G. Galen Braddy. In November 2010, Braddy ruled in favor of four Pitt County bars, which had asked the court to review the health board’s decision to uphold the smoking fines levied by Dr. John Morrow, director of the health department. In his decision, Braddy wrote that it was unfair to allow smoking at nonprofit operations, including country clubs, while denying that right to for-profit private bars. He made clear that his decision to allow indoor smoking was limited to those four bars: Club 519, Live, 5th Street Distillery and Mac Billiards.

The Pitt County case is the second in North Carolina. In the first appeal, the Court of Appeals upheld a Guilford County court's decision. In that case, Gate City Billards owner in Greensboro challenged the equal protection clause that allowed private, non-profit clubs the right for smoking to still occur on premises. The court found Continue Reading

Quitting is challenging.

In the 1990's, Gallup Poll found that 14 per cent of those surveyed respected smokers less. That number has increased to 25 per cent in the most recent poll.

There was a time when smokers were idolized, especially when it came to movies. The brightest and best actors and actresses were watched on the silver screen with a cigarette in hand. Those days changed quickly as the health effects of smoking became more clear, understood, and broadcasted. Today, smokers are often left hiding behind bushes or around corners, one-hundred feet from business doors, or left pining over the first drag that will come at quitting time.  Continue Reading