Tobacco handout ban clears House

OLYMPIA – Mission accomplished.

Giving a long-sought victory to a state lawmaker struggling with cancer, the House of Representatives voted Friday night to ban tobacco giveaways.

“Go, go,” whispered Sen. Bob Oke, hunched in a chair in the House wings as the vote was tallied. The bill has passed the Senate and died in the House for five years in a row. Critics argue that state law already bans freebies to children and that for adults, tobacco remains a legal product. Tobacco companies sometimes give out their products at concerts, rodeos and fairs.

On Friday, Oke’s Senate Bill 5048 passed the House by a landslide, 73 to 25.

It was a glorious day, Oke said afterward, and it was enough. Minutes after the vote, the Port Orchard Republican said he won’t run for re-election this fall.

“Five years is testing anyone’s patience,” he said. “Now I can go home.”

He has a bigger campaign ahead. Two years ago, Oke was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare form of blood cancer. After a stem cell transplant last year, he’d hoped that the cancer was defeated. But last month, his doctor called. The cancer had returned.

Oke said he’s on new medication and might have a second stem cell transplant this summer.

On Friday, opponents of Oke’s bill tried to amend it to exempt chewing tobacco, snuff and other smokeless tobacco. Tobacco companies help sponsor rodeos, said Rep. Bill Grant, R-Walla Walla.

And unlike health concerns over secondhand smoke, “there’s really no such thing as secondary chewing,” said Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Bellingham.

Although proponents say the measure’s aimed at preventing youth from picking up the habit, Grant pointed out that it’s already illegal to give tobacco to kids.

“I know of not one citation that’s been delivered to anyone for giving cigarettes to minors,” he said. “… Yet here we are, going to pass another bill that says the speed limit is 55. All of us like to feel good, including myself, but I don’t see any reason for a bill against something that’s already against the law.”

But as a test, Rep. Rodney Tom, R-Medina, said he filled out a tobacco customer survey in his dog’s name, Bentley. On the form, he claimed to be a 9-year-old boy who smoked three packs a day.

“Why do I keep getting coupons and T-shirts and other paraphernalia for Bentley Tom?” the lawmaker said. “There is no control on this issue. The tobacco companies are going after our children.”

Oke said the bill was critical because children find ways to get the tobacco that’s handed out for free.

“They’re trying to get our kids hooked,” he said, referring to tobacco companies as “the evil empire.”

Among those voting no was Rep. Mike Armstrong, R-Wenatchee.

“It’s about what’s next,” he said. He doesn’t want children to try wine, he said, but is the state about to ban all adult wine tastings? Will the state ban samples of cream puffs, which are also bad for a person?

“Does this (bill) open the door to everything?” he said. “Where do we stop?”

Oke’s bill got an extra boost, he said, when Gov. Chris Gregoire stepped in, encouraging lawmakers to pass the ban. Gregoire – attorney general at the time – was a key negotiator in the multistate tobacco settlement with cigarette makers in the 1990s.

The Senate had already approved the bill. It now goes to Gregoire to be signed into law.