Credit: Brad Gregg Current statute pre-empts municipalities from enacting smoking ordinances stricter than what state law has enacted. The measure to repeal that preemption was strongly backed by Gov. Mary Fallin, who had made it a key part of her legislative agenda. Sen. Rob Johnson, R-Kingfisher, headed much of the committee debate against the measure. […]
Tobacco
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Up in smoke
On a 6-2 vote, the Senate General Government Committee rejected Senate Bill 36, which sought to repeal the state pre-emption law that supersedes local governments. SB 36 was referred to that panel after Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, had declined to grant a hearing on the legislation. […]
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Tobacco road
Credit: Mark Hancock Currently, Oklahoma and Tennessee are the only states that fully bar local governments from ordinances that restrict tobacco. And therein lies the rub. State Health Commissioner Terry Cline is on the side of local control. “We expect big opposition from this multibillion[-dollar] industry,” he said. “There are plenty of paid tobacco lobbyists […]
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Looking ahead
Speaking before a joint session of the Legislature, Fallin touched on both accomplishments over the past few years as well as some of the initiatives and measures she hopes to implement over the coming year. Among the issues she hopes to see movement on this legislative session are:• a cut of the top state income […]
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State of health
Perhaps not coincidentally, it is among the bottom tier of states for health coverage. Families USA, a health care consumer advocacy group, lists Oklahoma as among the top 10 states “dying for health coverage.” According to Gallup, about 22 percent of all Oklahomans are uninsured, making it the 47th worst state in the nation, in […]
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Same old story
Or, to be politically correct, you’re “unhealthy.” That’s according to a recent report by the American College of Sports Medicine. Its survey mapped a variety of factors — how many people are obese, how many are smokers, how many exercise facilities there are, etc. — to rank the fitness of 50 U.S. cities, from best to […]
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Quitting with pride
Vicki Monks and Matt Harney check out smoking ads that have targeted the LGBT community. Credit: Mark Hancock What’s not as well-known is that within the LGBT community, smoking rates are considerably higher than among the population as a whole. One study by the American Lung Association even estimates smoking rates in that demographic might […]
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Well and good
Wellness Now was allocated a little more than $3.5 million during the next five years from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Community Transformation Grants, said Vicki Monks, Oklahoma City-County Health Department public information officer. As one of the 61 regions awarded the grant, Oklahoma County will use the money to decrease chronic […]
Posted inMusic
Chew on this
It’s safe to assume that when Tom Fec, frontman of psychedelic electro weirdos Black Moth Super Rainbow, decided to strike out with his solo project, Tobacco, it would be to indulge even the strangest inclination he felt pulsing in his head. That’s certainly true, and the music is all the more bizarre for it. “It’s […]