BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1278
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 10, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 1278 (Hill) - As Amended: January 4, 2012
SUBJECT : Health facilities: smoking.
SUMMARY : Extends the current ban on tobacco use in workplaces,
including hospitals, to include the entire hospital campus.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Prohibits, on and after March 1, 2013, smoking in all areas of
a general acute care hospital and throughout the entire
hospital campus, including, but not limited to, buildings,
parking areas, plazas, vehicles, underground passages, and
sidewalks, unless there is a government-mandated exception.
2)Exempts public thoroughfares and sidewalks adjacent to the
general acute care hospital, but not owned by the hospital,
and specified property owned or leased by the hospital that is
used for non-health care-related purposes from the prohibition
in 1) above.
3)Permits smoking on a hospital campus by a patient with the
written approval of the treating physician.
4)Requires a general acute care hospital to post conspicuous
signs of the no smoking policy at building entrances and other
locations and to inform new and current employees of the
policy.
5)Allows a general acute care hospital to provide interested
patients, visitors, and staff with information on, or refer
them to, smoking cessation services.
6)Permits a city, county, or city and county to adopt and
enforce additional smoking and tobacco control ordinances,
regulations, or policies that are no less stringent than the
applicable standards in this bill.
7)Declares the intent of this bill to encourage and assist
smokers to quit tobacco use and to reduce the associated risks
of tobacco smoke to hospital patients, staff, and visitors.
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EXISTING LAW :
1)Prohibits smoking in an enclosed space at a place of
employment including lobbies, waiting areas, elevators,
stairwells, and restrooms that are a structural part of the
building.
2)Exempts specified areas of workplaces from the smoking ban
including: a specified percentage of hotel and motel rooms;
parts of hotel lobbies; warehouses; patient smoking areas in
long-term care facilities; small businesses; and, certain
employee break rooms.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . The author states that while smoking is
generally prohibited in patient areas, waiting rooms, and
visiting rooms of health facilities, there are still many
areas within a hospital campus where smoking is permitted.
The author asserts that exposure to second hand smoke should
be eliminated to the extent possible for staff, visitors, and
patients, in particular, while they are recovering and/or
seeking medical treatment. Furthermore, the author maintains
that hospitalization for treatment of an acute health problem,
specifically an illness related to tobacco use, forces smokers
to confront the consequences of their addiction and,
frequently, to make a commitment to stop. The author argues
that smoke free hospital campuses motivate patients, visitors,
and employees to quit tobacco use in a supportive environment
that is prepared to provide cessation assistance to smokers.
2)BACKGROUND . According to research published in 2009 in the
British Medical Journal Tobacco Control, more than half of
accredited hospitals in the U.S. have instituted completely
smoke-free medical campuses. Many of these hospitals report
that they took this step because smoking was contrary to their
mission of treating the ill and promoting public health.
Research published in the January 2010 Journal of Hospital
Medicine that evaluated the impact of a smoke-free medical
campus policy at an acute care facility in New York found that
the employee smoking rate fell from 14% in the year preceding
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the ban to 9% in the year after the ban was implemented.
Similarly, an article in the September 2010 American Journal
of Health Promotion reported that the quit rate among medical
staff at smoke-free hospitals was higher than at other
hospitals and 60% of those employees who reported quit
attempts or not smoking indicated that a tobacco-free hospital
policy was influential in their efforts. Smoke-free laws have
been shown to reduce cardiac hospitalizations by decreasing
second-hand smoke exposure among non-smokers and reducing
smoking. The larger contribution to improved health has been
the reduction in second-hand smoke.
3)SUPPORT . The sponsor of this bill, Breathe California, states
that hospitals that have established smoke-free campuses have
taken an important step in advancing public health and report
almost no problems with compliance or enforcement of their
restrictions, with minimal cost. The California Hospital
Association notes in support that, on a daily basis,
California hospitals see the negative effects smoking can have
on the health of their patients and the increased costs it can
have on the health system.
4)PREVIOUS LEGISLATION .
a) AB 574 (Hill) of 2009, which was substantially similar
to this bill, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger who
stated that it was unnecessary since current law already
prohibits smoking in hospital patient care areas, waiting
rooms, and visiting rooms of a health facility and
hospitals also have the ability to further restrict smoking
on their campuses to include open-air areas such as patios,
parking lots, and sidewalks.
b) AB 3010 (Blakeslee), Chapter 505, Statutes of 2008,
authorizes the Director of the Department of Mental Health
to prohibit the possession or use of tobacco products on
the grounds of state mental hospitals under specified
conditions.
c) AB 846 (Vargas), Chapter 342, Statutes of 2003,
prohibits smoking inside public buildings and within 20
feet of a main exit, entrance, or operable window of a
public building.
d) AB 13 (Terry Friedman), Chapter 310, Statutes of 1994
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generally bans smoking in places of employment in the state
with exceptions for bars, taverns and gaming
establishments.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Breathe California (sponsor)
California Hospital Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Cassie Royce / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097