Smoking is banned in all county buildings--Tight vote by Stokes commissioners

(By Leslie Bray Evans, The Stokes News) - The vote was squeaky-tight Monday night as the Stokes County Board of Commissioners elected to prohibit smoking in all county buildings. Commissioner Dr. Ron Carroll put forth the motion which was seconded by Commissioner Stanley Smith. They were joined in the vote by Commissioner Leon Inman. The nay votes were Chair Jimmy Walker and Vice Chair Ernest Lankford.

The discussion of the issue on August 23 was riveting, with some surprising twists and turns. First to speak was Dr. Carroll who felt that since the proposed directive originally came from the health director and the board of health, the director should be allowed to speak.

Stokes County Health Director Josh Swift then quoted statistics which assert that 21 percent of North Carolina’s adults smoke, leaving 79 percent who don’t. An educated estimate of Stokes County adults who smoke is 25 percent and 75 percent who don’t.