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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
Tel: 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636)
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
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Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWRs)
Assessment of Local Health Department Smoking Policies—North
Carolina, July–August 2003
July 8, 2005 / Vol. 54 / No. 26
MMWR Highlights
- Among the 76 county or multicounty LHDs represented, the median
number of employees was 85 (range: 15–600), the average number of
buildings occupied was 3.2, and the median number of patients or
visitors annually was 20,000 (range: 3,000–400,000).
- Among the 76 LHD directors, 53 (69.7%) were nonsmokers, 20 (26.3%)
were former smokers, and three (3.9%) were current smokers.
- According to LHD director estimates, the mean percentage of current
smokers among employees at the 76 LHDs was 10% (range: 1%–42%).
- Approximately 60% of LHD directors reported their departments did
not routinely offer cessation services for employees who smoked.
- High percentages of LHD directors agreed or strongly agreed that
exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger asthma attacks (98.7%), cause
lung cancer (97.4%) and lead to adverse short-term cardiovascular
effects (84.3%).
- Official, written tobacco-use policies were in effect at 89.5% of
the LHDs, whereas 10.5% operated with unofficial tobacco-use policies.
- Among 75 of the 76 LHDs, 33 (44.0%) had tobacco-use policies
specific to the LHD, 33 (44.0%) operated under countywide policies, four
(5.3%) operated under both LHD and countywide policies, and five (6.7%)
operated under the federal Pro-Children Act of 1994.
- At 100% of the LHDs, smoking was prohibited in indoor hallways and
corridors, waiting areas and lobbies, administrative and private
offices, clinics and doctors' offices, cafeterias, locker rooms, and
restrooms. One LHD reported having a 100% tobacco-free policy.
- However, among those LHD directors who answered the questions, 38 of
66 (57.6%) said smoking was permitted at LHD events and functions, 29 of
39 (74.4%) said smoking was permitted on outdoor walkways and loading
docks, 60 of 76 (78.9%) said smoking was permitted outside all entrances
and exits, and 74 of 76 (97.4%) said smoking was permitted in parking
lots.
- Among the LHD directors, 57 of 75 (76.0%) said they were very
familiar or somewhat familiar with the preemptive provisions of North
Carolina's state law on smoking in public places (9).
- However, 28 of 75 (37.3%) incorrectly believed the law prevented
enactment and enforcement of a 100% tobacco-free policy on LHD grounds,
and 15 (20.0%) said they did not know whether the law prohibited such a
policy.
- Sixty-six of the 76 LHD directors (86.8%) believed the majority of
their employees would support a 100% tobacco-free policy at their LHDs.
Fifty-eight (76.3%) reported that no single person was officially
responsible for enforcing their tobacco-use policy.
- In May 2005, the North Carolina General Assembly, in response to data
indicating uncertainty about exemptions and with leadership from the North
Carolina Association of Local Health Directors, amended the section of the
state's smoking law, enabling LHDs to implement more stringent policies. The
new law specifies that the exemption applies to both LHD buildings and
grounds, including areas within 50 feet of a building.
Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007