CIGARETTES NEWS
Read the latest cigarette and tobacco news from thousands of sources
More Cigarettes News…
Warning
To place an order at All-Cigarettes-Brands.Com you must be 21 years old.
Payment method
Only Visa Card is accepted at our online cigarettes store!

Denver gives initial OK to ban on cigarettes at hospitals

Smokers could be burned with a $300 fine for lighting up on sidewalks and other public areas around Denver hospitals. An ordinance passed on first reading Monday by the City Council prohibits smoking on the public right of way around hospitals. The ordinance, which establishes a no-smoking perimeter - basically from the sidewalk to the curb and gutter - is up for final consideration Aug. 11. "Sick people - people with respiratory illnesses, people with cardiac illnesses, people with asthma conditions - are vulnerable, very vulnerable, to short-term acute exposure to secondhand smoke," said Councilwoman Carol Boigon, who sponsored the proposal. "The goal is to make sure that someone's smoke does not hurt another person," she said. The ordinance passed on an 8-5 vote. Council members Charlie Brown, Jeanne Faatz, Marcia Johnson, Peggy Lehmann and Jeanne Robb voted against it. "This is just too much government for me," Brown said. Faatz said the new law would push smokers into surrounding neighborhoods to get their fix. "People have to go somewhere if they're going to smoke," she said. Councilman Doug Linkhart said the city will be able to deal with "any concerns" if smokers are gathering on private property. He said Boigon presented her proposal to the Inter-Neighborhood Cooperation, which represents dozens of neighborhoods, and received a warm reception. "By the applause that she got at INC, I certainly don't think there are as many fears about the effects of this ordinance as there is gratitude," he said. Faatz and others also raised concerns about posting signs to warn smokers about the new law. The ordinance says hospitals shall post signs but doesn't penalize them if they don't. "The way it's structured, you have the possibility of people getting a ticket without even knowing that they are not allowed to smoke in that perimeter," she said. However Councilwoman Carla Madison, a health-care worker, said no one should have to walk through smoke to get care at a hospital.