Dr. Bill Mercer was pushing for a change more monumental than color television and men on the Moon combined, and a lot of people really didn’t like him for it back in 2004-05.
His critics threatened him, scolded him, and they vilified Mercer over and over again so he would just go away with his gibberish about a smoking ban in Ohio County. Restaurants had non-smoking sections, and warnings were printed on the side panels of every pack of cigarettes, so what more did the man want?
People smoked in bars back then because that’s what people did. Period. End of story, right?
Nope, and that’s because Mercer was serving at the time as the medical officer for the Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department, and he had full support from his board and the administrator, Howard Gamble. As the process moved the proposed Ohio County Clean Indoor Air Regulation closer to approval, local business owners challenged the initiative in public and in court.
Despite strong opposition, though, what was known as the “smoking ban” was approved and scheduled to go into effect during the 2005 Memorial Day weekend. It was delayed until June 19, however, after an injunction was granted in circuit court.
“I know when the smoking regulation first went into place, some of us went out to some of the bars to see if they were following the new regulations, and many of them were not and had to be cited,” Mercer recalled. “That’s when I was threatened a lot, and a lot of people were giving me the finger when I showed up and just out in the public, too, and that was a lot of fun.
“But it was all about public health in my mind and I know a lot of people didn’t fully understand how it was about public health. Most people knew smoking was bad for you, but I believe most people didn’t think about the second-hand smoke as being bad for them or anyone else,” he said. “But I am proud of what we did as a health board and as a health department, and it was great that we were the first in West Virginia to do it and all the others then fell in line.”
The Big ‘C’
It was in 1984 when Congress passed into law the “Comprehensive Smoking Education Act,” legislation that mandated manufacturers to include four specific health warnings on all cigarette packages and advertisements.
SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.
At least 45 percent of all Americans smoked back in 1954, according to research conducted by Forbes.com, but a few years after the warnings were required, the percentage dipped below 30 percent. When Mercer was fighting for the ban almost 20 years ago, only about 25 percent of the nation’s population still smoked, but the reports concerning second-hand smoke were inconsistent.
But then, in later 2004, the World Health Organization released findings that determined seconds-hand smoke did indeed place the exposed in danger, but it was a hard sell in Ohio County.
“Educating people about smoking and second-hand smoke was probably the most difficult part of the process,” Mercer explained. “It was also difficult to make people realize that it wasn’t just a bunch of doctors trying to force their views on other people. Until we addressed second-hand smoke, no one really knew about the health effects it had on both smokers and non-smokers because it was still too new for most people.
“I did a lot of soul searching, too, because I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing because the absolute last thing I wanted to do was hurt anyone. My efforts were only to help other people stay healthy for as long as possible,” he insisted. “I will say that some state officials got pretty nervous over all of it because they had started to get complaints from a lot of businesses from around the state, but they all came around to do the right thing.”
Hindsight, Right?
Mercer officially retired from medicine about a year ago, but no he didn’t.
The doctor continues to care for residents of local rehabilitation hospitals and nursing homes, and his dedication to Project Hope has earned him regional and national honors. Mercer and registered nurse Crystal Bauer have led the staff of the non-profit to perform “street medicine” while caring for the city’s homeless population.
It is the clean air initiative, though, that guided him to his “Joe Too Cool to Smoke” campaign that soon will be featured front and center at the Kruger Street Toy & Train Museum in Elm Grove.
“And I believe most people now appreciate what we did back then, and I believe even smokers appreciate not eating at a place that’s filled with smoke like it was before,” Mercer said. “It’s also nice that our children today have no idea about smoking and non-smoking sections in our restaurants because that’s something we’ve not had in Ohio County for over 17 years now.
“When we were working on the clean air regulation for Ohio County back in the early 2000s, our premise was to protect the people who were working for those establishments where smoking was allowed,” he recalled. “Now employees no matter where they work in Ohio County do not have to worry about being exposed to second-hand smoke.”
Ohio County’s clean air regulation, however, still cannot be considered “across the board” because exemptions for limited video lottery rooms and most gaming areas at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack were included to appease government leaders at the time.
“I do wish we were able to get the gaming areas non-smoking, too, but that just wasn’t politically possible at the time,” the doctor added. “We’ll just let time take care of it now because fewer people than ever are smoking today and that’s the best part of it all.”
