A New Anti-Smoking Groups Action

Published on June 19, 2009 4:23 AM

In every year anti-smoking groups is firing up more proposals to clean the air. For example in Nebraska smoking was pressured out in almost all public places.
The Nebraska "Clean Indoor Air Act" prohibited smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places.

The only prohibitions are cigar bars, tobacco shops, a designated percentage of hotel rooms and places where smoking is conducted.

A group of anti-smoking researchers GASP proposals would ban smoking in outdoor beer gardens and dining areas, as is done in Iowa, and within 25 feet of a doorway of a public building.

This group of researchers also seeks to raise the legal age to buy tobacco, from 18 years old to 19 or even 21, to help to restrict tobacco access to minors.

The main aim of GASP group is targeted at keeping secondhand smoke away from children. It proposes to ban smoking in vehicles carrying minor children, near ball fields and playgrounds.

Although two state senators said that they don’t think that expanding smoking ban is a good idea.

The GASP group said: "As citizens and visitors to Nebraska get used to this wonderful smoke-free state we've created for them indoors, they're going to become more and more upset when they have to walk through a cloud of smoke before they step inside a smoke-free building".

State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh of Omaha, who voted against the smoking prohibition, and Sen. Tim Gay of Papillion, who supported it, said they suspected that legislators were in the mood for another smoking dispute.

Researchers found that most Nebraskans are pleased there's a smoking ban in public places, but they also understand the rights of those who use a legal product.

"The guy's never going to quit," said Lautenbaugh.

Mark Welsch of Omaha, the president of GASP, said his group's goals have always focused on providing a smoke-free workplace, which should include outdoor dining areas and areas within 25 feet of a doorway. Smoke from such areas infiltrates nonsmoking areas and hurts neighboring businesses.

He added that such smoking around children should be called what it is: "child abuse."

Discouraging cigarette sales and usage is the main aim of anti-smoking researchers. That’s why they will not stop the fight against cigarettes and smokers till the cigarettes will not disappear from the Earth.