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By Bob Weaver
The anti-smoking ban proposed by the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department has taken a new twist to include virtually all establishments except bingo halls.
The 14-member board which covers a six-county region, voted Tuesday to put the proposal to ban smoking in restaurants on hold. They are looking at a more inclusive ban.
The new proposal would include all businesses exempted in the first version, including bars.
It would also ban smoking in retail tobacco stores, free-standing video lottery rooms, assembly rooms used for private functions and hotels and motels with designated smoking rooms.
Bingo halls are excluded because they are under federal regulations.
The health department's new executive director, Dick Wittberg, is pushing for tougher regulations.
Calhoun's two members on the health board are taking a stance against
tighter regulations, based upon private ownership rights.
Board member Alicia Davisson of Minnora said "I'm really torn over the regulations, because smoking is a health issue. But I feel a private business should have the right to declare their position."
Davisson indicated she believes it is a situation where government is going too far. "Smoking places can post a sign, warning all who enter," she said. "There are choices."
Bill Shock of Grantsville, Calhoun's other member of the 14-person board, said "I proposed to leave it the way it is and designate the business as a smoking establishment."
Both Davisson and Shock are non-smokers.
There appears to be dissent in the board's membership over the issue, with the board deciding to have a new round of public meetings on the "100% ban."
Hearings were held to gather public opinion on the original proposal, which would update a clean indoor air regulation adopted in 1994 that allowed restaurants to set aside 25 percent of their seating for smokers.
Jay Starcher, Roane County's member on the health board, told the Times-Record he was leaning toward supporting the stricter regulation, although he's not sure if it will be adopted.
He said "I will support it, but I think it's going to be harder to pass." He said, "There is significant opposition on the board, even to the original proposal, and this just increases that."
The 14-member board of health includes two representatives per county appointed by county commissions in Calhoun, Pleasants, Ritchie, Roane, Wirt and Wood counties. Two are appointed by the Parkersburg City Council.
A new round of public meetings will be announced.
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