Sidebar: Community Leaders and Health Agencies Partner to Stop the Devastation of Diabetes and Hypertension Among African American Men in Hyde County

Abstract

NCMJ vol. 73, no. 6 ncmedicaljournal.com ment toward making public places smoke-free began to take place. Representative Hugh Holliman introduced House Bill 76, legislation which would have made restaurants smokefree. The bill did not pass, but the good news was that a legislative champion had emerged: Holliman was a lung cancer survivor who was passionate about the smoke-free issue. Between the 2005 and 2006 legislative sessions, a statewide strategy to move North Carolina toward smoke-free work sites and public places was born. The 2006 legislative session accomplished additional incremental steps toward the long-range goal of making all work sites and public places smoke-free. Advocates focused on making the North Carolina General Assembly smoke-free as their first step. In June of that same year, the US Surgeon General’s Report provided incontrovertible evidence that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke [7]. From there, advocates were ready to pursue legislation that would further restrict smoking in public places. Representative Holliman introduced House Bill 259, which would have banned smoking in work sites and public places. The legislation made history by making it through committee and was voted on the floor of the House, where it was defeated narrowly, by 6 votes Community Leaders and Health Agencies Partner to Stop the Devastation of Diabetes and Hypertension Among African American Men in Hyde County