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It's been nearly six months since the city put a public smoking ban into effect, and while some businesses say the change has brought in new customers, others say it has cost them some.
Ricky Miller, who owns the Anex and Bullfrogs, said the smoking ban has brought problems to both of his nighttime businesses. . . .
Oilfield worker William Butler, of Houston, smokes in the parking lot of Chili's restaurant Friday. Nacogdoches' smoking ban, which prohibits smoking inside most businesses or within 20 feet from any public entrance to a business, went into effect almost six months ago.
He said one of his biggest concerns, as a result of the smoking ban, is the increased amount of alcohol that is being consumed in the parking lot of his two night spots.
"People are drinking in their cars because they can go there to smoke," he said.
The smoking ban, which went into effect July 1, prohibits smoking in all Nacogdoches public buildings, workplaces, offices, bars and restaurants, and requires smokers to be at least 20 feet away from the building to light up. Not doing so is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000.
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WACO - Texas now requires retailers to sell only fire-safe cigarettes once their old inventory is sold out.
Firefighters say these smokes are life savers, but smokers we talked to say they don't care.
Convenience stores and smoke shops tell News Channel 25 they have already stocked the shelves with the fire-safe cigarettes. Those are the ones that are labeled FSC above the bar code. But stores said that for customers who don't know about the new law, they're in for a real disappointment.
Fires started by unattended or discarded cigarettes may become a thing of the past with the implementation of legislation requiring fire safe cigarettes.
Signed into law in June 2007 the new slow-burning and fire safe cigarette legislation went into effect Thursday across the state in hopes of cutting down the number of fires started by cigarettes.
According to the National Fire Protective Association, cigarettes are a leading cause of home fire fatalities in the United States, killing 700 to 900 people - smokers and nonsmokers alike - per year
"Research in the mid-1980s predicted that fire-safe cigarettes would eliminate three out of four cigarette fire deaths. If cigarette manufacturers had begun producing only fire-safe cigarettes then, an estimated 17,000 lives could have been saved by now. Property losses from smoking-material fires total hundreds of millions of dollars each year," states information on the NFPA's Web site.
Smith County Fire Marshal Jim Seaton said he hoped the cigarettes would work, because many times drivers throw them out of their car window and start a wildfire
A state law went into effect yesterday that requires retailers to purchase cigarettes that might go out while you're smoking.
Customers can buy just about anything at Young's Tobacco shop, but it's one small thing that's burning up some.
"The cigarette sold to the retailer has to be under fire safety compliance code, which means it's burn free, or slow burning paper," says Kenneth Young, the owner of Young's Tobacco.
Kenneth Young says the slower burning paper has made some smokers smolder. They believe the new cigarettes, the ones that are fire safety compliant, have left them with a bad taste.
"No taste difference, it may be bad for some customers that are slow smokers and it goes out while it's in their hand," says Young.
Sharon Gambrell's been smoking since she was 15, for her the change almost went unnoticed.
Whether or not the Pueblo results are borne out in other communities, the fact remains that workplace smoking bans do have a positive health impact -- both for the non-smokers who no longer have to face clouds of second-hand smoke and for the smokers who usually find themselves smoking less.
The best impact might be on the smokers who use the inconvenience of such bans as a springboard to quitting the habit altogether.
Last year, one of the few holdout restaurants that skirted Longview's 5-year-old workplace smoking ban by barring any customers younger than 18, decided to join the mainstream and clear the smokescreen. Manager Fran Triplett told the Longview News-Journal that business at the Waffle Shoppes of Texas (on Marshall Avenue at Spur 63) was booming after it remodeled and went smoke free last summer.
When Longview first debated a proposal to institute its workplace smoking ban, there was some vocal, often rancorous criticism of the city council's decision to make our city one of the pioneers in clearing the public air. Since then, however, much of the nation has followed suit and the majority of Americans are breathing healthier, less odorous air because of it.
We're sure that the East Texans who carry out their resolutions to quit smoking this year will be glad to join that crowd.
El Paso fire officials are reminding the public about a new law requiring that only fire-safe cigarettes be sold in Texas.
The new law went into effect Thursday. Lt. Mario Hernandez, spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department, said distributors and retailers have until Jan. 1, 2010, to sell off their old inventory.
Hernandez said cigarrette-ignited fires are the leading cause of residential fire deaths, and fire-safe cigarettes are designed to self-extinguish if dropped or left unattended. Hernandez said of the three fire fatalities in El Paso County in 2007, two were caused by smoker's carelessness.
El Paso fire officials say just last year two out of three fire deaths were caused by careless smokers. Now a new state law could keep things safer in the lone star state. The state law requires distributors and retailers to start selling the fire-safe cigarettes. It went into effect yesterday but there are plenty of smokers and even retailers who had no idea. Saul Johnson sells cigarettes everyday but didn't realize the old fast burning cigarettes will soon be illegal in Texas.
A proposed statewide smoking ban has been the focus of a lot of attention in Texas, but another smoking law has gone into effect. As of yesterday, all cigarettes being shipped into Texas, must be in compliance with the new fire safe manufacturing process.
According to Jerry Haggins, the spokesperson for the Texas Department of Insurance,which oversees the State Fire Marshall's Office, says, "Retailers have one year to sell their old stack and starting this time next year the state fire marshall's office will begin enforcing the law by inspecting retail establishments to make sure they're selling the right cigarettes."
A common cause for house fires that officials hope will soon vanish like a smoke ring.
"If you don't take a drag as soon as you normally do, they're going to go out," said Mike Black, as he puffs on a new fire-safe cigarette.
He discovered how well they work a few days ago. . . .
As of January 1, state law requires new cigarettes sold in Texas to be fire-safe, although the old kind will be around for up to a year.
If you want to make sure you're getting the new fire-safe cigarettes you can do that. It's actually marked on the package - a FSC right on the bar code.
Smokers tell us they see little difference, and in fact appreciate the change.
An unidentified Fort Worth man is dead and another injured after a house fire, likely caused by a smoldering cigarette.
Improper disposal of cigarettes is a leading cause of fires but this year that might not happen as often, thanks to new fire-safe cigarettes, required by a new state law. . . .
PERMIAN BASIN - As the threat of grassfires looms over the Basin, State lawmakers lend a helping hand to fire fighters all across the Lone Star State.
For years, firefighters have been trying to get cigarette makers to create a safer product, and starting on New Year's Day, they'll get their wish after a new law goes into effect
Last year, cigarettes caused raging wildfires across West Texas, but firefighters hope new "fire safe" cigarettes will stomp those out.
"That's a wonderful thing. We've got lots of grass fires that people carelessly flick their butts out the window and we're right in the middle of it," West Odessa Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jimmy Ellis, said.
A discarded cigarette likely started a fire at a Fort Worth home early Thursday morning that killed one man and badly injured another, according to fire investigators.
Firefighters arrived at the home in the 3200 block of Deen Road around 4 a.m.
A new law takes effect today requiring that all cigarettes sold in Texas be fire-safe. Retailers and distributors, however, will have a year to sell off their old inventory.
Bands of less porous paper should result in a slower-burning cigarette that self-extinguishes if not smoked for a few minutes. The taste and cost of cigarettes shouldn't be affected, state officials say.
Manufacturers have started shipping fire-safe cigarettes to some retailers, according to state officials.
How soon smokers start seeing the new technology in their favorite brands will vary depending on the retailer.
A state law that went into effect today calls for fire-safe cigarettes to be sold.
Distributors and retailers have until 2010 to sell off their old inventory.
Officials say the new cigarettes taste and cost the same as the old ones but extinguish on their own when a smoker finishes smoking it.
DALLAS -- The recently expanded smoking ban in Dallas may give a proposed statewide ban some momentum, Texas lawmakers said.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and state Rep. Myra Crownover, R-Denton, said they plan to file a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would ban smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Though opponents say a ban would violate personal liberties and hurt their livelihoods, 24 states have passed similar measures.
Crownover and Ellis filed the same proposal in 2007. A watered-down version passed the House, but the Senate proposal stalled in committee. Since then, Dallas and Corpus Christi have strengthened smoke-free laws, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation has made a statewide ban its top priority in Texas.
The proposed statewide law would not take precedence over stricter city ordinances.