By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
The cigarette butt receptacles that are currently located outside of the Tribal Council House and the TOP Building will soon be removed. Tribal Council passed Resolution No. 39 (2015) during Annual Council on Thursday, Oct. 29 by a unanimous vote that calls for the removal of those receptacles and replacing them with “No Smoking” signs.
“We know smoking is bad,” Joseph Owle, an EBCI tribal member from the Wolfetown Community who submitted Res. No. 39, said during the debate on the issue. “It is an addiction that many people deal with.”
He said that many in the community, including himself, do not like having to wade through secondhand smoke when entering the Council House. “It is very unpleasant. It is a foul odor.”
In his resolution, Owle points to the EBCI Personnel Policies and Procedures Section 4.25 which states, “Smoking in tribal buildings and vehicles is prohibited at all times. This includes smokeless tobacco. Any designate smoking areas outside must be positioned away from the main entrances of the building and away from public view.”
Big Cove Rep. Teresa McCoy said she is a former smoker who used to be able to light up in the Council House itself. She supported the legislation and commented, “When we have those ashtrays on the porch of the Council House, we invite people to smoke…it has been proven that the poisons in cigarettes are killers.”
Owle’s resolution also states various facts from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) such as “tobacco smoke contains more than 70 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and about 70 that can cause cancer.” It goes on to state, “Since 1964, approximately 2,500,000 nonsmokers have died from health problems caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.”
Chairman Bill Taylor supported the legislation and referenced the tribal policy on smoking, “There’s a law in place. It just has to be enforced.”
