Orange County Smoking Ban Up For Vote

Orange County's board of commissioners will discuss a county-wide ban on smoking in public places at its meeting tomorrow. The county's Board of Health voted last month to recommend that smoking be prohibited in areas beyond restaurants and bars. Pam Diggs with the Orange County Health Department says those areas would include places where people congregate for work, transit and recreation.

Pam Diggs: "The courthouse, health department grounds, sidewalks, bus stops..those type areas. It would also cover indoor spaces that are privately owned such as child-care facilities, shopping malls, retail stores and lobby and common areas within apartment buildings."

If commissioners vote to support the ban, an educational period without police enforcement will begin January 1st. Full enforcement -- including a 25-dollar fine -- would begin July 1st. Durham County has a similar ban in place.