Proposals to ban smoking in public places such as restaurants, stores and offices came to a dead end once again in the Virginia House of Delegates, reports The Washington Post today. The House’s General Laws Committee set aside four bills aimed at banning smoking yesterday in addition to eight similar ones that were shelved last week. Democratic Governor Tim Kaine, who supported such a ban and had hoped to see it implemented during the legislative session, said that he was “not surprised.” Republican Delegate David Albo, who suggested that the bills be put aside, said, “I’m sympathetic, but I don’t see something I can live with.”
 Smokers can exhale (and inhale) again. The Virginia House of Delegates extinguished proposals to ban smoking in public places such as restaurants, stores and offices. |
Currently, according to the Post, two-thirds of Virginia restaurants ban smoking already. Twenty other states and the District of Columbia have banned smoking in restaurants and some other public places, but Claire Mullins of the American Lung Association observed that it can take a while for such a bill to catch on. “Smoking tends to be a cultural thing, ingrained in our psyche,” she tells the Post.
Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:
Two strikes and you’re out [February 14]
Downtown Mall store raided by federal agents
Obama, McCain win big [February 13]
Take all three Potomac Primaries
Obama gets posthumous endorsement [February 12]
Van Yahres family asks for donations to campaign or a charity in leiu of flowers