Brad Shannon:
The Politics Blog

Brad Shannon maintains this blog. He is political editor at The Olympian and can be reached at 360-753-1688 or bshannon@theolympian.com.

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Butt out: Health agency kicking smokers out in Tumwater

• Published November 18, 2009

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Smokers for a long time have been unwelcome in or near the doors of public areas, including state agencies.

But the new decree announced today (Wednesday) means that beginning in mid-May, visitors and state employees cannot use smokeless tobacco, cigarettes and other tobacco products at the state Department of Health's headquarters and campus in Tumwater.

A similar rule is in effect at the state's Public Health Lab in Shoreline, and next year it will apply to DOH's four buildings, parking lot, parking garage and grounds in Tumwater.

The agency put out the word today in a news release that starts like this:

Permanent smokeout: Department of Health campus to go tobacco-free OLYMPIA On the eve of the Great American Smokeout the Washington State Department of Health is announcing a ban on the use of all tobacco products on its main work campus in Tumwater. The first tobacco-free campus rule by a large state agency in Washington includes smokeless products. It goes into effect 90 days from the Smokeout, on February 16, 2010. "Tobacco use costs lives and money, and secondhand smoke puts people at much higher risk of serious health problems like lung cancer and heart disease," said Secretary of Health Mary Selecky. "As a state health department, we must lead by example. This tobacco-free campus policy does that, and sets a tone that other agencies and organizations can follow."

Smokers have been an endangered species for quite some time, and not just for the over-ripening effect tobacco has on human health. But this looks like a tougher sanction at a time folks are desperate to hang onto jobs.

It's not clear if workers would have grounds to object under union contracts. The issue of smoking bans has come up in bargaining the last two contract rounds with the Washington Federation of State Employees, and it was among the last issues dealt with both times.

I hope to learn more details tomorrow if there is anything in the latest contract that might interfere with this. Federation spokesmen were unable to say this evening.