By Matt Leingang
Enquirer staff writer

FORT MITCHELL - Matt Coleman is in an uphill fight, pushing a smoking ban in a Big Tobacco state with the highest smoking rate in the nation.

TOBACCO LOVE AFFAIR

• Current state statistics indicate that 33 percent of Kentucky's adults smoke, and 34 percent of Kentucky's high school students use cigarettes. Both categories lead the nation. • Kentucky is the second-largest tobacco-producing state in the nation, just behind North Carolina. But Kentucky ranks No. 1 in the production of burley tobacco - 198.3 million pounds in 2003. There are several types of tobacco. Burley is primarily used in cigarettes. • Burley tobacco is grown in 117 of Kentucky's 120 counties. • Sales of all types of tobacco generated $566.3 million in cash receipts to Kentucky farmers in 2001. • Efforts of many Kentucky farm organizations to help farms diversify from tobacco have been successful over recent years. The number of tobacco farms in 2002 stood at 29,237, down 38 percent from 1997. Sources: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Kentucky Agricultural Statistics ServiceStates with the highest prevalence of adult smokers

STATE RANKINGS

States with the highest prevalence of adult smokers: • Kentucky: 33 percent • Alaska: 29.4 percent • West Virginia: 28.4 percent • Tennessee: 27.8 percent • Indiana: 27.7 percent (Note: Ohio: 26.6 percent) States with the lowest prevalence of adult smokers: • Utah: 12.7 percent • California: 16.4 percent • Massachusetts: 19 percent • New Jersey: 19.1 percent • Connecticut: 19.5 percent Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2002 survey

LEXINGTON'S BAN

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government prohibits smoking in all buildings open to the public. Health officials will investigate complaints as they are received. Any person who violates provisions of the ordinance, including a person who smokes in an area where smoking is prohibited, may be subject to the following penalties: • A fine of $100 for the first offense. • A fine of $250 for the second offense. • A fine of $500 for the third and each subsequent offense. Smoking is allowed within a reasonable distance from the outside entrance to any building so as to ensure that tobacco smoke does not enter the building through entrances, windows, ventilation systems or other means. Source: Lexington-Fayette County Health Department

But he and his supporters are confident they'll prevail.

"Yes, tobacco has a very rich history here," says Coleman, a senior health educator with the Northern Kentucky Health District. "It built a lot of roads, built a lot of buildings and put a lot of people through school. But times have changed, and it's time to do something that is good for the community to make it healthier and to improve the quality of life."

As Cincinnati City Council forms an advisory committee to consider banning smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, Northern Kentucky advocates are gearing up, too.

The Tobacco Prevention Coalition of Northern Kentucky, of which Coleman is a member, commissioned a telephone poll this month to gauge support for restricting workplace smoking in Boone, Kenton, Campbell and Grant counties.

Coleman expects results by the end of July. After that, he hopes the group will meet with elected officials.

The tobacco prevention coalition also includes members of the American Cancer Society and American Lung Association.

Coleman and his supporters say history and marketing data already are on their side.

They cite:

• Lexington, located in the heart of the burley tobacco belt, last year became the first city in Kentucky to pass a smoking ban in all public buildings. The law took effect April. 27.

Now, a Louisville government committee is considering a smoking ban in the city's restaurants and day care centers, but not bars.

• More than 125 restaurants in Northern Kentucky already are smoke-free, according to the health district. Just last week, a new jazz club opened in Newport with a smoke-free policy.

"We wanted to have a place where people could enjoy fine music and fine food without worrying about their health," says Michael Ringering, managing controller for UpStarCrow Jazz & Blues Dinner Club. "Our customers love it. Our employees love it. And the smokers just step outside. They've been really good about it."

• The statistics. Even though 33 percent of Kentuckians smoke, 67 percent don't.

It may be politicians, not the public, who need to be convinced that a smoking ban is necessary.

"Tobacco states, Kentucky being one, seem to have weaker tobacco-control policies than states that don't grow tobacco," says Ellen Hahn, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky's College of Nursing. She has researched state policies, including legislation aimed at reducing youth access to tobacco, passing clean indoor air legislation, increasing cigarette taxes, limiting tobacco marketing efforts and supporting smoking cessation programs.

Lexington's smoking ban was spearheaded by Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon, who also operates 76 Applebee's restaurants in five states, including Ohio. His message was twofold: A smoking ban is both good for public health and good for business.

Last week, both Newport City Manager Phil Ciafardini and Covington Mayor Butch Callery said pursuing a smoking ban is not on their agendas. Ciafardini said the issue is best left up to individual businesses to make their own smoking policies.

"Our opinion is that it's a private business decision," adds Pati Gilliece, owner of Chez Nora restaurant in Covington and president of the Northern Kentucky chapter of the Kentucky Restaurant Association. "It's not something that government should mandate. No one is forcing customers to go to places that allow smoking. No one is making an employee work in a place that allows smoking."

Secondhand smoke, a carcinogen, is associated with up to 50,000 deaths from ischemic heart disease - heart disease caused by narrowing of blood vessels to the heart - in the United States each year.

It also makes asthma attacks more frequent and severe. Kentucky has the highest rate of asthma in the nation.

Coleman says it's a mistake to think of Northern Kentucky as monolithic, when there are close to 40 municipalities within the region. It takes just one city or village to enact a smoking ban for momentum to build, he says.

Melbourne resident Antonio Mazzaro, a non-smoker, supports a smoking ban. The 25-year-old says he enjoys going to bars and taverns on both sides of the river.

But when bars get heavy with smoke, "My eyes start watering, I get short of breath, and I don't have the good time that I would like," he says.

According to government studies, smoking bans have not hurt businesses in New York City and El Paso, Texas.

In fact, the New York City study released in March said that in the first 10 months of that ban - from April 1, 2003, to Jan. 31 - business-tax receipts in restaurants and bars were up 8.7 percent compared with the previous year.

"I love the challenge," says Coleman, acknowledging that his group has a lot of work to do to. "But I think it's going to happen."

E-mail mleingang@enquirer.com