
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 23, 2000]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 23, 2000 and December 4, 2001]
[CITE: 38USC1715]

 
                      TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS
 
                        PART II--GENERAL BENEFITS
 
    CHAPTER 17--HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME, DOMICILIARY, AND MEDICAL CARE
 
 SUBCHAPTER II--HOSPITAL, NURSING HOME, OR DOMICILIARY CARE AND MEDICAL 
                                TREATMENT
 
Sec. 1715. Tobacco for hospitalized veterans

    The Secretary may furnish tobacco to veterans receiving hospital or 
domiciliary care.

(Pub. L. 85-857, Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1143, Sec. 615; renumbered 
Sec. 1715 and amended Pub. L. 102-83, Secs. 4(b)(1), (2)(E), 5(a), Aug. 
6, 1991, 105 Stat. 404-406.)


                               Amendments

    1991--Pub. L. 102-83, Sec. 5(a), renumbered section 615 of this 
title as this section.
    Pub. L. 102-83, Sec. 4(b)(1), (2)(E), substituted ``Secretary'' for 
``Administrator''.


  Use of Tobacco Products in Department of Veterans Affairs Facilities

    Pub. L. 102-585, title V, Sec. 526, Nov. 4, 1992, 106 Stat. 4961, 
provided that:
    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take 
appropriate actions to ensure that, consistent with medical requirements 
and limitations, each facility of the Department described in subsection 
(b)--
        ``(1) establishes and maintains--
            ``(A) a suitable indoor area in which patients or residents 
        may smoke and which is ventilated in a manner that, to the 
        maximum extent feasible, prevents smoke from entering other 
        areas of the facility; or
            ``(B) an area in a building that--
                ``(i) is detached from the facility;
                ``(ii) is accessible to patients or residents of the 
            facility; and
                ``(iii) has appropriate heating and air conditioning; 
            and
        ``(2) provides access to an area established and maintained 
    under paragraph (1), consistent with medical requirements and 
    limitations, for patients or residents of the facility who are 
    receiving care or services and who desire to smoke tobacco products.
    ``(b) Covered Facilities.--A Department facility referred to in 
subsection (a) is any Department of Veterans Affairs medical center, 
nursing home, or domiciliary care facility.
    ``(c) Reports.--(1) Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act [Nov. 4, 1992], the Comptroller General shall 
submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of 
Representatives a report on the feasibility of the establishment and 
maintenance of areas for smoking in Department facilities under this 
section. The report shall include information on--
        ``(A) the cost of, and a proposed schedule for, the 
    establishment of such an area at each Department facility covered by 
    this section;
        ``(B) the extent to which the ventilating system of each 
    facility is adequate to ensure that use of the area for smoking does 
    not result in health problems for other patients or residents of the 
    facility; and
        ``(C) the effect of the establishment and maintenance of an area 
    for smoking in each facility on the accreditation score issued for 
    the facility by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Health 
    Organizations.
    ``(2) Not later than 120 days after the effective date of this 
section, the Secretary shall submit to the committees referred to in 
paragraph (1) a report on the implementation of this section. The report 
shall include a description of the actions taken at each covered 
facility to ensure compliance with this section.
    ``(d) Effective Date.--The requirement to establish and maintain 
areas for smoking under subsection (a) shall take effect 60 days after 
the date on which the Comptroller General submits to the committees 
referred to in subsection (c)(1) that report required under that 
subsection.''
