Second-hand smoke kills people and the only way to control it is to ban all smoking in workplaces, the U.S. government's top doctor said on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Second-hand smoke kills people and the only way to control it is to ban all smoking in workplaces, the U.S. government's top doctor said on Tuesday.
The report by Surgeon General Richard Carmona echoed the forcefulness of a 1964 surgeon general's report which paved the way for mandatory cigarette warnings and advertising restrictions.
"The scientific evidence is now indisputable: second-hand smoke is not a mere annoyance," Carmona told reporters. "It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults."
At least 60 percent of U.S. nonsmokers show signs of exposure to second-hand smoke, Carmona wrote in a preface to the report.
The report said it was impossible to protect nonsmokers even with designated smoking areas, making a workplace ban necessary.
"I hope this new Surgeon General's Report will finally spur Congress to take meaningful action to regulate cigarettes the most dangerous consumer product in America," Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a statement.
A 2005 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that second-hand smoke caused the death each year in the United States of 3,000 people from lung cancer, 46,000 from heart disease and 430 newborns from sudden infant death syndrome.
"Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows lung growth in their children," the report added. "The scientific evidence indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke."
"Nonsmokers need protection through the restriction of smoking in public places and workplaces and by a voluntary adherence to policies at home, particularly to eliminate exposures of children," Carmona said.
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Anti-smoking groups were delighted. "Elected leaders must continue to move toward a 100 percent smoke-free nation and do their part to help reduce death and disability from cardiovascular disease," said M. Cass Wheeler, CEO of the American Heart Association.
States, cities and other local authorities have battled efforts to ban smoking.
Some industries, especially bars and restaurants, have complained they will lose business despite the findings of health associations that broad bans have done no harm in Massachusetts and California.
The report said the tobacco industry had sought to cover up scientific findings on environmental tobacco smoke with biased research and other means.
But the tobacco industry remained steadfast in its commitment to personal choice and responsibility.
Reynolds American Inc.'s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit said in a statement on its Web site: "It seems unlikely that second-hand smoke presents any significant harm to otherwise healthy nonsmoking adults; and, given the extensive smoking bans and restrictions that have already been enacted, nonsmokers can easily avoid exposure to second-hand smoke."
Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA unit said people could choose whether to be around smokers.
Carmona, appointed by President George W. Bush, began a 4-year term as surgeon general in August 2002.


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New Hampshire Becomes 5th State to Pass Fire-Safe Cigarette Law

Parts excerpted from the Associated Press, 5/31/06
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- New Hampshire is joining four other states in requiring that all cigarettes sold be self-extinguishing or "fire safe." If left unsmoked, a fire-safe cigarette will go out instead of continuing to burn. The National Fire Protection Association estimates that 700 to 800 people are killed annually in the United States by fires started by unattended cigarettes.

"The technology exists to make our citizens safer, and with this legislation we are taking advantage of that technology to help protect them," Gov. John Lynch said before signing the law Wednesday.

New York was the first state to require the cigarettes in 2004. California, Vermont and Illinois also have enacted similar laws. Vermont's law took effect this year. California's law takes effect next year and Illinois' law in 2008. New Hampshire's law will take effect on Oct. 1, 2007.

Cigarette manufacturers argue there should be a single, nationwide standard for fire-safe cigarettes rather than various state regulations, but Congress has not passed legislation. The New Hampshire law would automatically be repealed if federal standards are enacted.

Retailers violating the law face civil fines of up to $1,000 per sale depending on the number of cigarettes sold.


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Howard County (MD) Goes Smokefree

Howard County (MD) Goes Smokefree

Parts excerpted from the Washington Post, 6/6/06

The Howard County Council voted late yesterday to eliminate tobacco smoke in restaurants and bars, a measure that would make the county part of a five-jurisdiction smoke-free zone stretching from the White House almost to Baltimore.

The measure was praised by health advocates as a bellwether of increasing support for a statewide ban when the General Assembly reconvenes next year. "I think this definitely increases momentum for a statewide law," said Kari Appler, executive director of the Smoke Free Maryland Coalition. "I think we are at a tipping point now towards making the entire state smoke-free."

Three Maryland counties -- Montgomery, Prince George's and Talbot -- already require clean air in eating and drinking establishments. A fourth, Charles County, has outlawed smoking in restaurants. Washington DC also prohibits smoking in restaurants; smokefree bars will take effect in January.



The measure caps more than a decade of protracted and politically charged efforts to restrict smoking in Howard, which since 1996 has banned it in restaurants and bars unless they created separately ventilated smoking areas.

"I think we're all very pleased that once again Howard County will be a leader in public health," said council member Ken Ulman (D-West Columbia), who voted with Ball and Guy Guzzone (D-Southeast County) to support the measure. "We'll be able to move forward and protect our citizens and our employees from an unhealthy workplace environment."


Opponents of the smoking ban, which also prohibits smoking within 15 feet of the restaurant and bar entrances, said the measure was unnecessary because 83 percent of the county's eating and drinking establishments already prohibit smoking.


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Sante Fe (NM) Votes 7-0 to Go Smokefree

Sante Fe (NM) Votes 7-0 to Go Smokefree
Law to take effect in 30 days

Parts excerpted from the New Mexican, 6/1/06

On Wednesday, the Santa Fe City Council voted 7-0 in favor of comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation. Sante Fe, the capital of New Mexico, will require most workplaces, including bars, restaurants, and the outdoor-dining areas of restaurants to be smokefree.

"Yahoo," City Councilor Patti Bushee, the bill's primary sponsor, said following the vote. For years, the councilor said, she has received a steady stream of messages from entertainers and hospitality workers complaining about secondhand smoke in bars and restaurants.

Working with a health group called the Santa Fe Tobacco Free Coalition, Bushee promoted the bill as a matter of worker's rights. The three-term councilor said she was amazed no one spoke in opposition of the bill Wednesday. "Let's all go out and dance in a smoke-free environment," she said.

Santa Fe joins Edgewood, Roswell and Doña Ana County as municipalities in New Mexico that require clean indoor air at most workplaces, including bars and restaurants. Albuquerque has smokefree restaurants but makes an exception for stand-alone bars.

Sante Fe's legislation also requires buildings be smokefree within 25 feet of their entrances.

Prior to the vote, a stream of about two dozen teens, advocates and medical professionals voiced their support for the proposal. They set the room awash in statistics and studies. Some also gave heart-rending accounts of their own battles with tobacco smoking.

Fifty-two-year-old Cindi Quirk told the council how smoking led to throat cancer that nearly killed her in 2002. She held the mask doctors would place over her face and bolt to a table while she received daily radiation treatments for two months. The mask is a reminder of the pain she endured.

"I thought I lost my soul," she told a reporter. She said she is encouraged by the council's willingness to adopt the law. She said she is also encouraged that a greater awareness over the dangers of smoking has developed since her youth.

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Big Tobacco behind deceptive ballot initiative

Big Tobacco behind deceptive ballot initiative
Two initiatives: One strong, one weak
Excerpted from Smoke-Free Arizona, 5/31/2006
Tobacco giant RJ Reynolds is lying to Arizonans – again. This time RJR is bankrolling a deceptive initiative that falsely claims to protect people from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

On Friday, the North Carolina-based cigarette manufacturer contributed $10,000 to a last-minute attempt to place the Arizona Non-Smoker Protection Act on the November ballot. RJR’s plan is to use their deceptively titled initiative to confuse voters and defeat the true public health measure, Smoke-Free Arizona, which will also be on the November ballot.

This isn’t the first time Big Tobacco has used these deceptive tactics to head off smoking bans. In Ohio, right now, RJR is pursuing a similar strategy in the face of a strong statewide smoke-free law likely to appear on this Novembers’ ballot. In California, they called their initiative “Californians for Statewide Smoking Restrictions.” California voters caught on to their attempts to misrepresent the facts and defeated their sleazy measure. In Florida, they chose the misleading name “The Committee for Responsible Solutions,” and gave up only after being publicly criticized for their deception and fraud.

These blatantly deceptive names do not describe what the initiatives would actually do: roll back existing smokefree regulations, allow smoking in workplaces and prevent local governments from passing future protections against secondhand smoke. Big tobacco-funded initiatives pretend to protect people, but in reality they are nothing more than a smokescreen to confuse the voter.

The tobacco industry is playing a dangerous game and putting the health of all Arizonans at risk by attempting to confuse voters about the Smoke-Free Arizona initiative.

The American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids strongly oppose RJR’s attempt to mislead Arizonans and sidetrack our effort to make Arizona a healthier place to live.

But we do not underestimate the power of Big Tobacco’s millions to confuse and distract voters. The Smoke-Free Arizona coalition will use our decades of experience promoting positive health policies in Arizona to defeat this measure.


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