Key Findings
State Tobacco Control Policy cont'd
Smokefree Air
Cigarettes don't just harm the people who smoke--they also harm the people around them. Secondhand smoke causes or exacerbates a wide range of adverse health effects. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals: 200 are poisons; 69 cause cancer. 19 In June 2002, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization concluded that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and other health problems and classified secondhand smoke as a cancer-causing agent in humans.20
Secondhand smoke is especially harmful to young children because they breathe more air than adults and their bodies are still developing. Babies and toddlers are at increased risk--secondhand smoke can contribute to the development of pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, coughing, wheezing and increased mucus production in healthy children less than 18 months of age. 21 Children with asthma are especially at risk from exposure to secondhand smoke. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that exposure to secondhand smoke worsens the conditions of between 200,000 and one million children who have asthma.22 Children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have on average 1.5 more lost school days per year than children who are not exposed.23
In 1997, the California Environmental Protection Agency estimated that secondhand smoke caused approximately 35,000 to 62,000 deaths from heart disease in nonsmokers each year. 24 The danger from heart disease is so severe, that the CDC recently issued a warning to people at risk for coronary heart disease to avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.25
The workplace is the primary source of secondhand smoke exposure for adult nonsmokers in the United States. 26 Restaurant workers are at particular risk. Food service workers rank last among the Census Bureau’s list of major occupation groups in terms of worksite smoking policy coverage. More than half of the nation’s food service workers are at risk from exposure to job-related secondhand smoke. Only 28 percent of waiters and just 13 percent of bartenders work in smokefree workplaces.27 Levels of secondhand smoke in restaurants are approximately 160 percent to 200 percent higher than in office workplaces. Levels in bars are 400 percent to 600 percent higher than in office workplaces.28
According to NCI data, people of color have higher rates of occupational exposure to secondhand smoke. Latinos and Native Americans have the highestrates of occupational exposure to secondhand smoke.29 High rates of occupational exposure to secondhand smoke stem in part from the fact that people of color are disproportionately employed in food service, laborer and factory jobs that have the highest rate of exposure to secondhand smoke.30
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People at risk for coronary heart disease should avoid exposure to secondhand smoke.
-- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Prohibiting smoking in the workplace can have an immediate and dramatic impact on the health of workers and patrons. A study conducted in Helena, MT, found that the number of heart attacks fell by 40 percent during a six-month period in 2002 when the city’s comprehensive smokefree air law was in effect.31,ii
Comprehensive workplace smoking laws have been effective in not only reducing exposure to secondhand smoke but in increasing the number of people who quit and discouraging kids from starting to smoke. The NCI found that being employed in a workplace where smoking is banned is associated with a reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked per day and an increase in the success rate of smokers who are attempting to quit. 32
Numerous studies have shown that smokefree air laws have either no effect or a positive effect on the economy. In Florida, a study by the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida found that the statewide smoke-free law, which took effect July 1, 2003, has not hurt sales or employment in the hotel, restaurant and tourism industries. 33 In Delaware, which has the strongest smokefree air law in the nation, business has remained steady. In fact, data from the Delaware Department of Public Health and the Alcohol Beverage Control Commission shows there has been an increase in the number of restaurants and taproom licenses since the smoking ban took effect.34 In New York City, a study found that its smokefree air law had a positive effect on the economy. Since the smokefree air law took effect, business receipts for restaurants and bars has increased 8.7 percent, employment has risen (2,800 seasonally adjusted jobs), and cotinine levels in nonsmoking workers decreased by 85 percent.35
2004 Highlights
The trend toward comprehensive smokefree air laws continued to gain momentum in 2004 with Idaho, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island passing laws that protect people from secondhand smoke.
In May 2004, the Massachusetts legislature passed a comprehensive smokefree air law prohibiting smoking in all workplaces including restaurants and bars. The law was signed by Governor Romney in June 2004 and went into effect on July 5. Rhode Island’s smokefree air law covers workplaces, restaurants and most bars and goes into effect March 1, 2005. Idaho’s smokefree air law prohibits smoking in most workplaces and restaurants but has an exemption for bars and bowling alleys.
In addition, a number of cities across the country made the decision to go smokefree. Lawrence, KS, Columbus, OH, Lincoln, NE and Minneapolis, MN passed ordinances prohibiting smoking in workplaces. In a major victory for public health, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the smokefree air ordinance passed in 2003 in Lexington, KY.
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In 2002, heart attacks fell by 40 percent in Helena, MT, after a smokefree air ordinance was enacted.
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Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia received an F for smokefree air. That translates into millions of Americans still exposed to secondhand smoke in restaurants, workplaces and other public places. The American Lung Association is concerned with the health of all nonsmokers. Everyone has the right to breathe clean, smokefree air in all public places and workplaces.
Looking Ahead
More and more people around the country are demanding smokefree air in the places where they work, play and socialize. The success of smokefree air laws on both coasts of the United States will help spread these laws throughout the country until communities everywhere are protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Already, strong smokefree air laws can be found in large southern and midwestern cities. It will not be long before all citizens enjoy these protections.
ii Helena, MT’s smokefree ordinance was in effect June 2002 through December 2002. In December 2002, a city judge in Helena ruled the ordinance unconstitutional because it did not provide for a jury trial upon violation.
Key Findings Continued... |
