The Fayette County Commission

got an earful last week about imposing a smoking ban in public places.

"Secondhand smoke has

destroyed my quality of life," said resident Kathie Cheney at the

end of last weeks' County Commission meeting.

With a quivering voice and

grasping a water bottle, Cheney explained she didn't know the effects

of secondhand smoke, because you really can't see what it's

doing to your body.

She told the commission that

Peachtree City's smoking ordinance provides signs on doors indicating

the level of smoke in the facility, but nobody has really done anything

to eradicate the dangers of the smoke in areas where it's present.

"It's time to quit

the sleight-of hand games," she said.

Secondhand smoke has destroyed

Cheney's life, and left her with a case of throat cancer, despite

her otherwise perfect health, she said.

"My cholesterol's

perfect and I had no symptoms," she said.

Commission Chairman Greg Dunn

sympathized with Cheney, and said he avoided going into any establishment

where smoke was present, because he grew up with asthma.

He said the county was carefully

studying the idea, and said the resolution was pretty open-ended when

it was presented to the county.

"It said eliminate smoking

in public places, but it didn't specify what a public place was,"

he said.

During the next few weeks,

the county plans to study the resolution and determine if there is a way

to address the problem.

"We're seriously

trying to address the issue. But if we do something, we want to make sure

it can be reasonably enforced," he said.

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