Arkansas Clean Indoor Air, needs work yesterday

Most recently a glaring example of how poor the Arkansas Clean Indoor Air law is occured. Sportsfans will remember that this was then Governor Huckabee’s effort at leaving Arkansas to campaign for president as the health care candidate w a minimum of tobacco prevention. It wouldn’t do for his record of collaboration with the tobacco industry without some lip service of a clean air act to survive. That is what the ACIA is, lip service badly in need of repair.

Adding insult to this are serious questions about enforcement from the Arkansas Department of Health today.

One saturday in late July my friend Harry stops in the Goldpan Cafe in Lakeview AR for breakfast on his way to help his brother lay a foundation. Harry is retired, got time on his hands, and the Goldpan is open. He also is the parent of a middle schooler avid on tobacco prevention. So he knows that the half a dozen kids he sees shouldn’t be sitting in the smoking section. Smoking Section? Arkansas law protects them from secondhand smoke in all businesses. They shouldn’t be inside the building!

So he files a complaint w the Arkansas Department of Health at the Breatheasy site. Done. Until a few days later he gets a call, and a hang-up. Then immediately after a call and verbal abuse for making his report of noncompliance. When he notices his answering machine has 3 more ‘messages’ later in the week from apparently Goldpan patrons, all abusive. He starts to reconsider his decision to ignore the first call. The ACIA contains a ‘non retaliation’ clause ostensibly intended for employee protection, and according to the ADH lawyer, never tested in this kind of case.

To synopsize, the ADH lawyer says that there is no official procedure under Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act to get Harry’s name and apparently the ADH investigator provided this information at the time of the visit. One can file a non-compliance report anonymously.

I drove by the Goldpan today and took this photo. Came home and filed a a report of noncompliance stating:

"In attempting to enter the business, which has been granted an exemption and is a smoking establshment, I noticed that the business had no signs conforming to Section VI of the Rules for Arkansas Clean Indoor Air law http://www.arcleanair.com/pdf/clean_indoor_air_act_rule_2006.pdf . The only signage visible at the entrance was a crude paper sign saying, "No one under 21 allowed in, 7,28,09." I fled."

Investigators from ADH had time to give out my friend’s name and contact info yet not enough to rectify simple signage requirements? It would be easy to fault the local ADH tobacco prevention coalition grantee, and probably should. But not all counties have a coalition and how many businesses remain noncompliant simply because no one informed enough about the law has entered the business? A complaint driven public health and safety law is ridiculous enough without lacking sincere efforts at enforcement.

Policy makers need to know how badly flawed this legislation is. There is no safe exposure to secondhand smoke and no room for second tier enforcement of a public hazard that kills 5,000 Arkansans annually.