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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 Introduction
Secondhand smoke is a cause of disease in healthy nonsmokers (1–6), and an increasing number
of states have adopted laws prohibiting smoking in private-sector worksites, restaurants, and
bars. However, certain state governments have provisions in their state smoking restrictions
that preempt more stringent local laws. North Carolina has such a preemptive state smoking law,
passed in 1993, which mandates that 20% of the space within state-controlled buildings be designated
as smoking areas. Exemptions from the law included local health departments (LHDs), providing an
opportunity for public health practitioners to enact more stringent policies. LHD directors were surveyed
to assess smoking policy gains from this exemption.
Results of the survey indicated uncertainty regarding the state law, with 37%
of LHD directors believing they were prohibited from enacting a 100% tobacco-free policy on LHD grounds
and 20% not knowing whether they were prohibited. The North Carolina Association of Local Health Directors
used these findings to work with legislators in the North Carolina General Assembly to amend the state
smoking law in 2005, specifying that the exemption applies to both LHD buildings and grounds.
Page last reviewed 02/28/2007
Page last modified 02/28/2007