Now this is taking a stand against smoking! What do ya think?
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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Health officials want to make the tiny South Pacific island of Niue (NEE'-oo-ay) the first country inthe world to be fully smoke-free by banning tobacco.
A bill proposing to ban smoking and the sale of tobacco in all public areas and private homes has been drafted and presented to lawmakers, Dr. Sitaleki Finau, Niue's top public health official, said Tuesday.
The government has not yet signed up to the plan, and Finau conceded it could face stiff opposition from tobacco companies and other commercial interests.
But health officials were urging legislators to be bold and impose the bans.
"Small countries are allowed to be ambitious," Finau told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "If a small country can do this, then big countries will start thinking. Imagine what that means."
Niue, a lone island measuring just 100 square miles about 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand, has about 250 smokers among its 1,300 population, Finau said.
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candyaquino
Jul 8, 2008 | 8:15 AM |
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RNC08
Jul 8, 2008 | 11:18 AM |
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northton
Jul 9, 2008 | 4:19 AM |
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notfreeyet
Jul 9, 2008 | 5:59 AM |
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Tom Johnson co-anchors FOX 35's morning newscast from 5-9 a.m. He is a veteran newsman with 18 years of experience. He came to FOX 35 in September 2003 after nearly two years at WOIO-TV where he anchored both news and sports and also hit the streets as a news reporter. Before that Tom anchored the morning news at WSPA-TV. Tom also worked at WIS-TV, WJCL-TV and began his career at WSAV-TV in 1990. Before that first job in Savannah, Tom attended the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism at the University of Georgia from 1986-1990. Tom has covered a lot of major stories in his career. They include: Central Florida's 2004 "Summer of Storms," the trial of Susan Smith in Union, SC; the 1994 crash of a US Air jet in Charlotte, NC and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He was actually in Centennial Olympic Park when the bomb blast happened and eventually covered the search for accused bomber Eric Rudolph in the mountains of North Carolina. Tom has been honored for his work with 4 Emmy awards, 10 Emmy nominations and nearly a dozen other awards. Most recently he won a 2006 Suncoast Emmy Award for Education reporting at FOX 35. In 2005 he won a prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for feature reporting at FOX 35. In his spare time, he loves to read and is an AVID football fan. He closely follows the Georgia Bulldogs and the Washington Redskins. Tom is married with two young sons. He and his family are overjoyed to be in Central Florida.
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