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RALEIGH, N.C. — Lawmakers in the nation’s largest tobacco-producing state are moving closer to keeping cigarette smoke from wafting through the corridors of the General Assembly.

Two weeks after the Senate gave nearly unanimous approval to a ban on smoking in the Legislature, a House committee on health also gave full support to the measure.

"The North Carolina assembly is about leadership," said Rep. Rick Glazier, D-Cumberland, the bill’s author. "It seems to me the responsibility to set and be an example is ours."

While Senate and House members have both outlawed smoking within their respective chambers over the past three years, some lawmakers and others still light up in corridors and offices. Some lawmakers questioned why the state’s top officials would allow smoking in buildings that thousands of students visit each year.

Secondhand smoke causes up to 65,000 lung cancer and heart disease deaths in U.S. adult nonsmokers each year, according to the American Lung Association. Additional studies show increased health risks for children and those with lung ailments.

"We all know the affects of environmental exposure to tobacco smoke and what secondhand smoke can do," said Rep. Alma Adams, D-Guilford. "It’s not just a mere annoyance — it is a serious health hazard." (more…)

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