Every year, there are almost 50,000 preventable deaths due to exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 90 percent of the adult population has a telltale chemical signature for exposure to secondhand smoke in their blood. The statistics are even worse for children. Secondhand smoke is related to low birth weight babies, asthma, respiratory infections and inner ear infections.  Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the severity and frequency of asthma episodes; 400,000 to 1,000,000 children with asthma have experienced aggravated symptoms.

The sheer pervasiveness of the problem demands that we protect all public health in every community and state. Secondhand smoke not only costs lives, but it also costs the United States millions of dollars each year in healthcare costs.

To view the full text of the American Lung Association State of Tobacco Control: 2007 report, visit www.lungusa.org