Communities, crusaders for smoking bans honored at ceremony

The Bullitt County Health Department, the City of Bowling Green and the 2010 edition of the Campbell County Fiscal Court won 2011 Smoke-free Indoor Air Excellence awards from the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy at a ceremony in Lexington Thursday. All recently passed smoking bans; a newly elected fiscal court in Campbell County repealed the ban there. The ban in Bullitt County faces a lawsuit from the Fiscal Court.

The Kenton County Fiscal Court and the City of Oak Grove received the 2011 Smoke-free Indoor Air Endeavor award. Those jurisdictions enacted bans that do not apply to bars.

Dr. Melissa Walton-Shirley, left, received the Dr. David B. Stevens Smoke-Free Advocate of the Year award. Walton-Shirley has been a private-practice cardiologist in Glasgow for the past 20 years. She spearheaded the successful smoke-free movement in Glasgow, which won passage of a smoking ban in June 2010, and has pioneered a push to improve access to acute heart attack care for hospitals without requiring onsite surgery.

To date, anti-smoking ordinances or Board of Health regulations have been implemented in 29 Kentucky communities. In 18, the restrictions cover all workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Bullitt County is the most recent addition; its health department passed an ordinance March 22. Nearly one-third of Kentuckians are protected by comprehensive workplace laws, according to the Center for Smoke-free Policy, based in the College of Nursing at the University of Kentucky.