Published: May 11, 2008 02:06 am            

Anti-smoking gain: No puffs in your own car

MONTGOMERY — Some hospitals have banned smoking inside a person’s own vehicle if it’s on hospital property, a step viewed as logical by the anti-smoking movement but repugnant to its critics.

“Many of us see this as the beginning — and easiest part — of a growing encroachment of government into people’s private lives,” said George Koodray, New Jersey coordinator for the Citizens Freedom Alliance.

While a handful of states ban smoking in cars if there are minors inside, the move by hospitals to prohibit any puffs behind the wheel represents new territory for those seeking a smoke-free environment.

The ban is part of the more widely recognized effort by hospitals to prohibit lighting up inside or outside the building, out of public health concerns. The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation in Berkeley, Calif., counts more than 1,200 with campuswide bans.

No exact count is kept on which hospitals extend the ban to inside a car or truck, but an Associated Press check of hospitals in Alabama and elsewhere found that a number do.

At Mizell Memorial in Opp in south Alabama, smokers in cars get a gentle reminder.

“If they have their door open or smoke is seen coming out of a window, we approach and remind them of the smoking ban,” said Renee LeMaire, director of marketing and public relations at Mizell.

Extending the ban inside a personal vehicle apparently was done without fanfare.

Rick Wade, senior vice president of the American Hospital Association, said he had not heard of hospitals banning smoking in cars, but he understands why the action was taken.

“The trend is for hospitals to eliminate smoking on campus,” Wade said. “What we learned from talking to hospitals is that they are surprised that people really do honor the ban.”

Roger Swafford of Forces Alabama, a smoker’s rights group, said the smoking ban demonstrates the hospital’s complete lack of concern for their patients.

“Visitors that are smokers and willing to adhere to the hospital policy will likely shorten visits,” Swafford said. “Hospitals should have a designated area for visitors and staff members who choose to use a legal product.”

Robert Pritchard of Maryville, Tenn., the Southeast regional director for Citizens Freedom Alliance, another smoker’s rights group, said he would find another hospital to visit if he lived in Alabama, where at least several hospitals have adopted bans on smoking in personal vehicles.

“The property belongs to the hospital, and they can make the rules for their property,” Pritchard said. “That does not mean that we have to like it at all.”

There’s no such prohibition on smoking in cars on campus at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Ore., according to hospital spokeswoman Kendra Gohl.

“In Oregon, a car is private property and we do not have the ability to enforce that even if it was allowed,” Gohl said.

Some of the hospitals aren’t taking any aggressive, get-tough enforcement of the ban on smoking in personal vehicles.

Sean Johnson, who handles security at Helen Keller Hospital in Florence, Ala., said he doesn’t hunt for people smoking in cars, but approaches the vehicle if he sees someone or receives a report of a person lighting up in their car. He said he treats the smokers as he would want to be treated.

“I approach them respectfully, advise them of the smoking policy, inform them of their alternatives, thank them for their cooperation, and wish them a good day,” Johnson said.

He said his job is to work with those at the hospital, not against them.

“They are our patrons and we desire only to help them,” Johnson said.

If someone chooses to smoke in their car at Providence Hospital in Mobile, they would be asked to extinguish the cigarette or leave the campus, according to Michael King, director of planning and marketing at the Mobile medical center.

“This would be especially likely to happen if they are parked close to a walkway or entrance and their smoke is affecting others,” King said.

Like Wade of the AHA, Patrick Reynolds, executive director of the Foundation for a Smokefree America, said he had not heard of a smoking ban inside personal vehicles, but said smoke-free parking lots are common.

“When a hospital or school bans smoking on its campus, that typically extends to the parking lot, and in fact to all land owned, right up to the sidewalk,” Reynolds said. “They have the right to do that. Before, smokers would often gather around doorways.”

Pritchard said citizens need to stand up for their rights.

“When some people complain and get the government involved, and start telling me what to do in my house or my car, then they have gone too far,” Pritchard said. “Now if they wanted to start making payments for me, then I would consider going outside.”

        

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