Daily Doc: TI, Oct 9, 1986: Powers of Boards of Health
Daily Doc: Powers of Boards of Health
Title: Powers of State Boards of Health
TI, Oct 9, 1986
Bates #: TIOK0019132
March 14, 2000
In many places, state and local boards of health are allowed to operate independently from legislatures or local councils. In addition, these boards are often vested with powers that allow them to enact rules to protect the public health--including public smoking restrictions. Moreoever, Boards of Health tend to be comprised of people who are knowledgeable about, and sympathetic to the topic of public health. An educated and motvated Board of Health can, then, with a fair amount of ease and rapidity, make sweeping changes in public smoking rules to protect public health. Their autonomy, power and dedication to health makes them responsive to the need for this, and that sends red flags up in the tobacco industry.
In recent years, the industry has been trying to pass measures at the state level to preempt this power, so that local boards of health will be rendered powerless to enact such restrictions. The following memo from the Tobacco Institute site shows the industry's alarm over the powers of local boards of health to enact smoking restrictions.
CITATION
Title: Powers of State Boards of Health
Type of Document: N/A, confidential
Author: Boman, S
Recipient: Legislative Council, Tobacco Institute Region VIII
Date: 19861009
Page Count: 1
Site: Tobacco institute document site http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/
Bates No. TIOK0019132
URL: http://www.tobaccoinstitute.com/getimg.asp?pgno=0&start=0&bool=TIoK0019132&docid=TIOK0019132&docnum=1
QUOTES
Tobacco Institute Headquarters has advised us of a possible action by the New York State Public Health Council that could set an alarming precedent. This agency is considering adoption of a smoking regulation that would ban or severely restrict smoking virtually everywhere in the state. Affected would be retail stores, restaurants, places of work and even bars and bar areas.
In addition to approval by the state health commissioner, the only procedural requirement for the promulgation of this regulation is publication in the State Register, allowing for a 30-day public comment period. This governor-appointed Council is not required to hold a public hearing.
Aside from the proposal's severity, the Council would impose administratively....the type of smoking restriction that the New York Legislature has refused to enact into law.
Please evaluate the nature of the powers of the Public Health Council, Board of Health or similar administrative body in your state and advise me accordingly. This, of course, is to identify any state that may have non-legislative opportunities for obtaining smoking restriction laws.
This service is brought to you by the American Lung Association of Colorado ( http://www.alacolo.org/) and Smokescreen ( http://www.smokescreen.org)
To join Doc-Alert, go to http://tobaccodocuments.org/, scroll down to the bottom of the page, enter your email address in the box marked "Daily Document Newsletter," and click *subscribe.*
Visit the Daily Document Archives at http://www.smokescreen.org/list/viewmsgs.cfm?id=66.
Anne Landman, Regional Program Coordinator
American Lung Association of Colorado, West Region Office
Grand Junction, CO
(970) 245-2120
afoxland@gj.net
***********************
Go To: Tobacco BBS HomePage / Resources Page / Health Page / Documents Page / Culture Page / Activism Page
***********************
END OF DOCUMENT