There’s a new sheriff’s directive in town.
Starting Oct. 1, smoking will no longer be permitted on Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office property. And that, finally, means those less-than-thoughtful, unnaturally cloudy, cardio/pulmonary-compromising zones — also known as designated smoking areas – will be history.
No longer will the Sheriff’s Office be enablers for those who won’t kick the habit. No longer will the Sheriff’s Office, which doesn’t (knowingly) hire employees who use tobacco, be undoing its part in helping to target the largest preventable cause of death in the U.S. And no longer will non-smokers be imprisoned, however briefly, with smokers as they navigate designated smoking areas.
Well done, Sheriff’s Office. Timing is everything. Your tobacco-free strategy addresses the ultimate bottom line: further incentivizing wellness while helping to rein in the costs of health insurance premiums.
And the new rule will end the de facto policy of sending a counterproductive, mixed message. In short, as long as there are employers offering designated smoking areas, there will be designated rationales to maintain the status quo. Ultimately, that’s neither a sound – nor healthy – approach.