County looks to be 'smoke-free'
By Donna Comella

Wayne County legislators have appointed a Task Force to consider tougher smoking regulations. The step is taken with an eye on enacting a new Smoking Code - one that would eliminate the hazards of second-hand smoke in restaurants, bowling alleys, bingo halls, and other public places.

When the County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday morning, authorization was given to commission the new ad-hoc committee, which will make legislative recommendations by September.

Margaret Collins, executive director of the American Lung Association, addressed the board. Collins has coordinated the Tobacco Coaltion of the Finger Lakes for the past five years. The coaltion represents Wayne, Ontario, Seneca and Yates Counties, and includes members from the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, school officials, law enforcement, etc.

According to Collins, 70 percent of all New Yorkers are already protected by 'smoke-free' ordinances, including those in neighboring Monroe County.

In Monroe County, for instance, the new code began January 1, 1998. By January 1999, restaurant dining areas will be 100% smoke-free. (Separate smoking rooms will be allowed with certain restrictions.) Also smoke-free by Jan. '99: bingo halls, the concourse areas of bowling centers, all sports arenas and convention halls. (Bars and taverns with no restaurant services are exempt.)

Other counties with similar 'smoke-free' ordinances include Erie, Suffolk, Westchester, Wyoming (proposed), and New York City. Violation penalties range from none up to a $1,000 fine. In Nassau County, where smoking was to be prohibited in even some outdoor areas, the ordinance has been struck down by a U.S. District Court.

Collins provided a 46-page report to be considered and a 13-page hand-out of magazine article reprints on the dangers of second-hand smoke.

Wayne County's ten-member committee will include one member each from the Supervisors' Public Health Committee and Legislative Committee; the county's Public Health Director, Joseph Mabon; County Attorney Mark Alquist; one member each from the American Lung Association, the Tobacco Action Coalition, the Geneva office of the NYS Dept. of Health, and the Wayne Restaurant Association; and two members-at-large.

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