By Janet Jacobs
It’s getting harder to be a smoker lately and opponents of smoking see that as a good thing.
As of today, there’s no smoking allowed inside or outside any Navarro Regional Hospital buildings. On Monday, the students at Navarro College will debate whether to allow smoking on the Corsicana campus. In Austin, a proposed law to ban smoking in public places across the state is being considered in committee.
A Corsicana ban on smoking in restaurants and public places went into effect Feb. 1, although it took a few weeks for some restaurants to enforce it. Corsicana is one of more than two dozen Texas cities to enact a smoking ban in places such as restaurants.
“Other than it being an inconvenience, I can’t tell it’s affecting me one way or another,” said Joe Hubbard, owner of The Other Place. “As long as all of us are playing by the same rules, I don’t care,” he said.
Some restaurateurs are putting up the required barriers, including The Other Place and Don Jose’s, while others have accepted the ordinance as writing on the wall and stopped allowing smoking altogether.
“We had a few people who got mad and said they won’t come back,” said Richelle Perry, manager of Roy’s Cafe, which is now smoke-free. “They’ve come back. It hasn’t affected us a whole lot, but some.”
The Old Mexican Inn has also gone smoke-free as of Feb. 21, said owner Julius Flores. Some of the “hard-core” smokers have walked out, but Flores said he expects it to level out.
“I think people are just going to have to understand that it’s not just a Corsicana deal,” he said.
The decision to make the hospital grounds smoke-free came up as a suggestion from an employee, said Xavier Villarreal, chief executive officer of Navarro Regional. Hospitals banned smoking indoors years ago, but this move will make it forbidden anywhere outside the hospital or outside the doctor’s office building next door.
“We’re offering smoking cessation classes for our employees, to help train them how to quit,” Villarreal said. “Really, we want to create a healthy environment for our patients, employees and visitors. The hard part is how to enforce it.”
Employees can be written up, but visitors will merely be asked to put out their cigarettes, Villarreal said. “Our approach will be more of education. We’re not going to have a policeman standing outside, but we want to create a more healthy environment.”
Health is also the reason behind a proposed bill introduced to the Texas Legislature this session which would ban smoking in all public places or within 15 feet of entrances to buildings. The state ban, if it passes, would also prohibit smoking in bleachers at sporting events and concerts. House Bill 5 would make it a Class C misdemeanor to light up in these places, and creates a $50 fine for smokers and a $100 fine for the managers of the establishments. A similar bill was introduced in the 2007 legislature but died for lack of support. Currently, the bill is being considered by the State Affairs Committee, according to the Texas Legislature Web site.
Navarro College hasn’t formally proposed a ban yet, but it’s going to be the subject of a campus-wide discussion at 3 p.m. Monday in the Arrowhead Room, explained Erik Zoellner, vice president of student services. The subject came up at a recent student discussion, and college President Richard Sanchez asked for a special meeting on the subject. The college already has a policy that forbids smoking within 20 feet of any building entrance.
Sarah Springer, 21, a cabinet member of the student government, said she brought the issue up because her walk from one class to another took her through a covered walkway where smokers congregate.
“You just kind of choke,” she said. “It’s real gross. I go through there and I smell like a cigarette.”
She said it was Sanchez who asked whether a campus ban on smoking would be acceptable.
“The reaction was just wild,” Springer said. “Some people were like ‘Let’s do it,’ and some people were totally against it.”
Deborah Andrews, 19, will co-chair the discussion on smoking with Zoellner Monday. Andrews is president of the student government at Navarro College. Like Springer, she’s not a smoker, but she’s less adamant about banning it on campus. She’s hoping to hear from people on both sides of the issue, she said.
“Personally, I just walk around the smokers,” she said, adding that she’s not sure how any campus-wide ban would affect smokers. “I’m not a smoker, and I don’t know how bad it is because I’m not addicted to cigarettes.”
The City of Corsicana’s smoking ban hasn’t resulted in a flurry of citations on the issue, said Paul Ward, planning and zoning director for the City of Corsicana.
“It’s complaint-based. We don’t go out seeking anything,” he said. “We have had one complaint of one business so far, and we went out and addressed it.”
“We really haven’t had many complaints yet,” Ward said. “Everyone’s been real nice about it.”
Still, for some smokers, it’s an issue of freedoms — including the freedom to choose where to spend money.
Jennifer Worsham said she’s contemplating quitting smoking, again, but for now, she prefers to go where she — and her smoking habit — is welcomed. Years ago, when the Cotton Patch went smoke-free, she stopped going there, she said.
“It’s just like hotels. I’d pick a smoking hotel over one that’s not smoking,” Worsham said.
For Stormy Deere, who is also a smoker, the ability to light up over dinner isn’t a deal-breaker.
“To me, it depends on the food. If the food is good, I’ll go back whether it’s smoking or not,” Deere said.
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