Charleston Gazette
September 28, 2007
By Eric Eyre
Gazette Staff writer

A majority of Kanawha County residents say the countywide smoking ban should be expanded to bars, gambling parlors and the Tri-State Racetrack & Gaming Center, according to an analysis of comments released Thursday by Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health.

More than 60 percent of Kanawha County residents who sent written comments to the health board want tougher smoking rules. A slightly lower percentage of people who spoke at public hearings last summer also support expanding the smoking ban.

Health board members reviewed the count at a Thursday meeting. They're expected to discuss and vote on the proposal to strengthen the anti-smoking regulations Nov. 15.

Health department officials plan to present a report on the public comments to board members within the next three weeks.

"There is a substantial amount of material," said Dr. Kerry Gateley, the department's director. "We are going to summarize it, classify it and organize it."

The report will include a summary of "unifying themes" that speakers raised, including the smoking ban's effect on businesses and employees' rights not to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

Thursday's totals mirror those of a survey released earlier this year. The Kanawha County Coalition for Community Health Improvement survey found that 61 percent of county residents wanted secondhand smoke eliminated at bars and gambling establishments.

About 180 Kanawha County bars would be affected by the tougher smoking regulations, which would take effect next July.

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