Friday, March 31, 2000
Ohio tobacco bill threatens public health
BY CLIFF RADEL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
An unhealthy power grab in Columbus could blow cigarette smoke into the face of everyone in Ohio. And the state's already high death rate from lung cancer could increase.
These deadly possibilities can become realities in Ohio if the state Senate passes House Bill 298. The measure requires elected officials — county commissioners, city council members — to have final say over tobacco regulations adopted by local boards of health. With politicians in charge, the establishment of anti-smoking regulations could be made more difficult and smoking could be made easier.
I hope enough people urge their state senator to vote against HB 298 to kill this legislation. The measure reeks of tobacco lobbyists and cigarette makers controlling the people's government and threatening the public's health. This bill sets a dangerous precedent by limiting the powers of the state's public health system, a process designed to be free of political influence.
Locally, elected bodies have squandered untold tax dollars on stadiums, can't find where millions went to pave roads and have given city workers lucrative retirement buyouts they don't deserve. Boards of health are dedicated to protecting the public's well-being. Which group would you rather have in charge of an anti-smoking measure?
Elected lawmakers run for public office. They need campaign finances. Such funds can be provided by friends of the tobacco industry, a place where companies profit from manufacturing cigars, cigarettes and other products that can kill their customers.
Weakening the power of local health boards amounts to fixing what isn't broken. The states' public health system has worked well in the 81 years that have passed since it was last overhauled in 1919, after the deadly flu epidemic of 1918. Exposing the health boards to petty politics is akin to injecting a healthy person with a dose of anthrax.
The source
The bill was sponsored by Rep. Robert Schuler, a Republican from Sycamore Township.
Rep. Schuler is a smoker. After two decades of puffing, he kicked his cigarette habit 17 years ago. Now he smokes a cigar “once a week.”
He came up with HB 298 after consulting with representatives from the hotel, motel, bar and restaurant trades. The bill is identical to a proposal drafted in 1995 by a lobbyist for the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., maker of Camel, Winston and other products with packaging containing warning labels.
He gave me his reasoning behind the legislation. “Boards aren't accountable to the people directly. Elected officials,” he said, “are more inclined to listen to the people.” They are also more inclined to listen to lobbyists bearing campaign contributions.
HB 298 passed Ohio's House on Tuesday. The same day, the American Cancer Society announced the state's projected death rate for lung cancer would again be higher than the national average. This year, the society predicts the disease will kill 7,400 Ohioans.
The next day, Senate President Richard Finan told me HB 298 “has a good chance” of passing Ohio's upper house and becoming law. “We have a natural tendency,” he said, “to abhor bureaucrats and love lawmakers.”
My natural tendency is to avoid playing favorites with either group. They exist as part of an intricate system of checks and balances.
As with most bureaucrats on local boards of health throughout the state, members of Cincinnati's board are appointed by elected officials accountable to the people. In Cincinnati, the mayor appoints board members with the approval of city council. The board works with, not for, council.
Dr. Malcolm Adcock, Cincinnati's health commissioner, worries this partnership may be altered forever by HB 298. “Once the precedent has been set and the authority of the boards of health reduced, it can happen again.”
For example, a future public health problem could force the board to make an unpopular decision, one that would close a factory. The factory owner could get his friends on city council to overrule the board.
I don't like our health, our lives, being used as pawns in political chess games. When it comes to matters of public well-being, I'd rather give the authority to someone with a vested interest in the public's good health, not council members or commissioners capable of ministering to the narrow needs of special interests.
Columnist Cliff Radel can be reached at 768-8379; fax 768-8340.
