Ark. lawmaker to push for ban on chew

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A lawmaker said last week she’ll try again to clean up the House rules that ban a cup of water on a desk but allow a day’s worth of tobacco juice.

Rep. Pam Adcock said she will propose next week a ban on chewing tobacco from that chamber’s floors or committee rooms. Adcock contemplated seeking the ban during a committee meeting earlier this year and said she would push for a state law in the 2009 session banning chewing tobacco throughout the Capitol.

“It’s just going to be easier and quicker to get it do ne this way,” said Adcock, D-Little Rock.

A law banning smoking in nearly all indoor workplaces in Arkansas went into effect last year. It does not cover chewing tobacco.

Adcock said a ban on smokeless tobacco would be similar to other rules regulating legislators’ decorum in the Capitol, including prohibitions on food and drink in some areas.