| UPDATE: The Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health has voted to censure the West Virginia Legislature for "continuing to allow smoking in the West Virginia State Capitol Building."
"Even though we've been told in no uncertain terms that the state capitol is not a part of our jurisdiction and we do not have any control...it is in Kanawha County," said health board president Brenda Isaac.
Kanawha County has had a Clean Indoor Air Regulation since July 2008. It prohibits smoking in public buildings.
"It distresses us that unhealthy practices are allowed to continue in that one building in Kanawha County, which are not allowed to continue anywhere else...," she said.
Meanwhile, Blackhawk Saloon owner Kerry Ellison says he will no longer allow customers to smoke in his bar, and the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration says they will return his license providing he stays in compliance.
Earlier Story
COMMENT by Bob Weaver
The West Virginia Capitol Complex remains exempt from Kanawha County's smoking ban because it is technically property of the state.
Legislators smoke in their offices and around the complex.
Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, who is also a physician, said he's not one to confront his fellow legislators about lighting up and "bang people's heads against the walls."
Foster wants a state-wide smoking ban.
"We get lots of complaints every time the Legislature comes into session because lawmakers are apparently smoking throughout the building," said Anita Ray, director of environmental health for the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department.
The state apparently has a no smoke policy that applies only to the executive branch and is enforced by department heads.
The state-wide ban has received little traction in the past, legislators preferring the issue to be addressed by other governing bodies.
Down the road from the Capitol, Blackhawk Saloon owner Kerry Ellison says he was surprised when the Alcohol Beverage Control Administration took his liquor license.
Ellison has bucked the health department's no smoking in bars policy.
Friday, undercover investigators witnessed workers and customers lighting up in the Blackhawk Saloon. Ellison's license is now suspended and his business is closed.
The ABCA's action is separate from that of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department. That agency has taken Ellison to court twice over smoking violations and won.
Meanwhile, at the Capitol, smoke 'em if you got 'em.
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