North Carolina's Efforts to Protect Workers from Second-hand Smoke

The North Carolina legislature is debating a bill to protect workers, such as waiters, from inhaling second-hand smoke. The original bill proposed by Hugh Holliman would have banned smoking in nearly all businesses, including bars and restaurants. The bill is making its way through the House and then Senate. Unfortunately, with each stop, the bill is being watered down. There are a lot of representatives who oppose this bill and are trying to obstruct passage of this bill. North Carolina is the largest producer of tobacco in the U.S. The bill will now go to the N.C. Senate, where the chamber's leader, Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, strongly supports it.