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Council Mulls Kicking Smokers Out of Shared Public Spaces
Wednesday, Jun 29, 2011 | Updated 12:47 PM EDT
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Smokers would be driven from lobbies, laundry rooms, and shared hallways in Montgomery County, if the council decides to adopt a new bill.
Lawmakers are considering whether to extend prohibitions on smoking to public spaces in multi-family homes, including apartment and townhouse complexes, the Gazette reported. Outdoor common areas would be excluded. The county already bans smoking from workplaces and restaurants.
"If you are exposed to secondhand smoke under these circumstances, it is not fair," council member George Leventhal said at a public meeting, according to the Gazette.
The council's Health and Human Services Committee has already voted yes on the measure. It will go before the entire council on July 12.
Another measure authored by Leventhal, the health committee chair, would also ban smoking in private playgrounds. That new bill did not make it out of committee. Smoking is only prohibited in public Montgomery County playgrounds.
The next NBC Washington PNC Bank Community Shred is scheduled for June 16, 2012.
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