Williams Health District Approves Anti-Tobacco Stance

At this week’s reg­u­lar meet­ing, the Williams County Health Dis­trict Health Board agreed to a new pol­icy pro­hibit­ing use of e-cigarettes on health depart­ment prop­erty and ban­ning nico­tine and tobacco users from being offered employ­ment. The plan was announced by dis­trict lead­ers, who said they felt it was impor­tant that the Health Dis­trict, which opposes smok­ing in any form, have the same pol­icy regard­ing tobacco and e-cigarettes for employ­ees as it does toward the pub­lic. County Health Com­mis­sioner James Watkins, accord­ing to a report in the Bryan Times, was quoted as say­ing that “as a health dis­trict con­cerned with the health of the com­mu­nity, and know­ing the health risks from using such prod­ucts, it is the wish of the Health Dis­trict to do every­thing to dis­cour­age the use of this drug”. As writ­ten, US law does not rec­og­nize ban­ning the use of tobacco or nico­tine by employ­ees as a form of dis­crim­i­na­tion, accord­ing to Watkins.