Diné tobacco ban talks resurface
New bill introduced to Budget and Finance committee

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — Legislation which would ban the use of commercial tobacco products in public places, vetoed last September by Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., resurfaced Tuesday as the “Navajo Nation Commercial Tobacco-Free Act of 2009.”

Thomas Walker Jr., chairman of the Health and Social Services, introduced the legislation before the Budget and Finance Committee as a health bill promoting Navajo traditional views on health and wellness to reduce preventable cancer and other diseases caused by commercial tobacco use. It addresses secondhand smoke and the use of commercial tobacco in public places.

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