Cigarettes Get "Safer"?
Smokers listen up...
Smokers listen up... All Cigarettes sold in Kentucky will now be "fire-safe", thanks to a law that went in effect last week. Many people hope the law will mean less cigarette-related fires in the Bluegrass. "We're almost all the way there now and that's why we've got the tags on everything, so we can rotate and get it right," says Mary Baird, manager of "Tobacco America". Baird has spent the last six weeks transitioning her store from regular Cigarettes to the newly-mandated "fire-safe" ones. "The paper has like speed bumps on it and that makes the cigarette go out if you lay it down or even stop smoking on it, it'll go out and you have to re-light it," explains Baird. The idea is to slow down the cigarette's burning speed. Which Bowling Green Fire Department official, Marlee Boenig, hopes will reduce the likelihood of fires emanating from unattended Cigarettes. "Hopefully these new Cigarettes will be a benefit for us because they will cut down on those fires and the fire deaths," notes Boenig. While these Cigarettes are believed to lessen the chance of fires... they don't completely eliminate the risk. "People don't need to become complacent about them, its only if you use them with care and common sense," encourages Boenig. Fire officials are giving the "fire-safe" Cigarettes a thumbs up but customers we talked to aren't happy about the change. "They don't like it," exclaims Baird. "It ain't too bad, but it ain't worth a diddly when you have to keep lighting them over and over," says smoker, Charles Sanford. "I've thought about quitting over it," smoker Kimberly Daigre. Still, Boenig and Baird say smokers need to look past all the negativity and give the Cigarettes a chance. "Even if you have to relight it once or twice, its a lot better than having those Cigarettes that start fires," encourages Boenig. "They say they'll quit smoking but I really don't believe that. It's either they'll have that or nothing, you know," comments Baird, with a laugh. Kentucky is the 9th state to enact the "Fire-Safe" cigarette law.