Grand Valley State Update
Grand Valley State says it doesn’t have to follow county smoking ban
1/16/2008
ALLENDALE – Administrators at Grand Valley State University say the school doesn’t have to follow Ottawa County’s new workplace smoking ban.
There are anti-smoking activists who disagree.
The ban went into effect this month.
It requires almost all employers to prohibit smoking inside their workplaces and within 25 feet of their buildings’ doorways, windows and air vents outside.
A few businesses are exempted from the ban, including bars and restaurants.
Smokers and the establishments that allow people to smoke could be fined.
Grand Valley State legal counsel Patricia Smith says the state constitution allows the school to establish its own smoking policy – which is less restrictive.
