Lighting Up at the Legislature

Communities statewide are wrestling with anti-smoking public health proposals. The Journal of Martinsburg, for instance, reports on Morgan County's indoor air rules taking effect today, while the Charleston Daily Mail reported last week on the issue in Putnam County and at Yeager Airport.

But The Charleston Gazette reports today that a statewide indoor air ordinance may prove elusive: "For one thing, legislators’ offices are exempt from Kanawha County’s smoking ban."

The article continues, "In 1991, former Gov. Gaston Caperton issued an executive order banning smoking at the state Capitol Complex. The order didn’t extend to the Legislature or state Supreme Court. Earlier that year, the House of Delegates restricted smoking in the House chamber, gallery and committee rooms. The Senate doesn’t have a written policy, but it’s understood that smoking isn’t permitted in the chamber and other common areas."