Oklahoma board OKs use of tobacco tax to abolish smoking rooms

The Oklahoma Board of Health cleared the way Tuesday for tobacco taxes to reimburse restaurants that eliminate smoking by Jan. 1.

The state Health Board cleared the way Tuesday for tobacco taxes to reimburse restaurants that clean up their smoking rooms and eliminate smoking throughout the restaurant by Jan. 1.

About 100 to 150 smoking rooms with special ventilation systems were built to comply with a 2003 state law. Last year, former Gov. Brad Henry signed the reimbursement measure into law.

About $1.2 million in tobacco taxes each year would be available to help pay for the room dismantling, with the rebate calculated at 50 percent of the cost of building smoking rooms, minus depreciation on those capital costs. But how many restaurants will apply for the rebate and eliminate smoking is unknown.

Restaurant owners say they have spent from $3,000 to $30,000 on the smoking rooms. Most Oklahoma restaurants are smoke-free.

Calls and e-mails to restaurant owners and the Oklahoma Restaurant Association seeking comment weren't immediately returned Tuesday.

The measure ties into a pending bill that would allows cities and towns to set up anti-tobacco ordinances more restrictive than the state's tobacco laws. About 3,200 cities in the nation have passed local tobacco use ordinances; few lawsuits have been filed and those that were filed generally are in favor of public health, according to the state Health Department.

A spokesman for the Reynolds American Inc. tobacco company earlier said establishments that cater to adults only should be allowed to have smoking.

“The tobacco industry is very clever,” state Health Commissioner Terry Cline said. “They're spreading seeds of doubt wherever they can.”

The tobacco industry spends $213 million yearly to market their product in Oklahoma through means such as advertising in national magazines and giving out sample cigarettes at local bars, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Smoking-related health costs in Oklahoma are about $1.16 billion yearly, according to Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“If you're a taxpayer, you're paying for that,” said Dr. Ronald Woodson, a health board member whose medical practice is in Lawton.

“It's been called a holocaust,” Woodson said. “I see on a daily basis the ravages of tobacco.”

source: newsok.com