SECONDHAND SMOKE, SMOKE-FREE LAWS, AND YOUR COMMUNITY

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SECONDHAND SMOKE, SMOKE-FREE LAWS, AND YOUR
COMMUNITY
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Nothing Kills Like Tobacco
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Is Secondhand Smoke a Mere Annoyance?

• Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung
  cancer deaths per year in nonsmoking adults.
• Secondhand smoke causes approximately 46,000
  heart disease deaths per year in nonsmoking
  adults.
• Secondhand smoke causes approximately 430 SIDS
  deaths per year in newborns.
• Source U.S. Surgeon General, 2006

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Why is SecondhandTobacco Smoke so Toxic?
SHS contains at least 250 toxic chemicals

• Methanol
• Carbon Monoxide
• Hydrogen Cyanide
• Acetone
• Tar
• DDT
• Naphthalene
• Vinyl Chloride
• Benzene

• Formaldehyde
• Mercury
• Lead
• Arsenic
• Toluene
• Cadmium
• Ammonia
• Butane
• Ethanol

There is no risk-free level of exposure to
firsthand or secondhand tobacco smoke
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How Does It Harm Your Body?

• Heart disease
• Lung cancer
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
• Low birth weight
• Asthma
• Otitis Media (ear infections) in children
• Slowing of lung growth in children
• Bronchitis and pneumonia
• Breast cancer in pre-menopausal women
• Increased risk of cervical cancer
• Cognitive deficits among children even at
  extremely low levels of exposure

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Does Even a Little Bit Hurt Your Heart?

• 5 minutes of exposure stiffens the aorta (harder
  for the heart to pump blood).
• 20 minutes of exposure causes excess blood
  clotting (increasing risk of heart attack and
  stroke).
• 30 minutes of exposure limits the ability of the
  blood to manage LDL ("bad") cholesterol leading
  to the build up of arterial fat deposits
  (increasing risk of heart attack and stroke).
• 2 hours of exposure can speed up the heart rate
  and lead to abnormal heart rhythms (which may
  cause death).

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In April 2004, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention issued a warning that all patients
with heart disease should avoid exposure to
secondhand smoke.
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Why are Some Workers Affected More Than Others?

• Levels of secondhand tobacco smoke in restaurants
  and bars is 1.6 to 6 times higher than in office
  workplaces.
• Servers have the greatest risk of developing lung
  cancer and heart disease compared to other
  occupations.

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Bar Workers Benefited the Most from Lexingtons
Smoke-free Law
adjusted for cigarettes smoked per day
Average decrease in hair nicotine, post-law
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• No one should have to breathe tobacco smoke to
  hold a job.
• Suzanne H
• Cocktail Waitress for 14 years
• Emphysema attributed to secondhand smoke
  at work

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What Does the Tobacco Industry Say About the
Health Effects?

• It is our view that, the scientific evidence is
  not sufficient to establish that environmental
  tobacco smoke is a cause of lung cancer, heart
  disease or other chronic diseases. Brown
  Williamson Tobacco, 2003

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How Many Kentucky Adults are Exposed to First
Secondhand Smoke?
Most (72) do NOT smoke cigarettes.
Yet nearly all (91) ARE exposed to secondhand
smoke.
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• Sign in Chicago where there is a weak, confusing
  ordinance

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What are the Public Health Benefits of Smoke-Free
Laws?

• Nonsmokers protected
• Fewer children start to smoke
• Smokers consume fewer cigarettes
• More smokers quit

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How did Support for Lexingtons Smoke-free Law
Change Post-law?
Public support for the law increased
significantly.
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What Does the Tobacco Industry Think about
Smoke-free Laws?

• Smoking bans are the biggest challenge we have
  ever faced. Quit rates go from 5 to 21 when
  smokers work in non-smoking environments. (Bates
  2054893642/3656 Legacy Tobacco Documents
  Library 1994. http//legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/
  nyg12a00)

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Is it Governments Role to Enact Smoke-free Laws?
Among the police powers of the government, the
power to promote and safeguard public health
ranks at the top.. The real issue is whether
the public health regulation Lexingtons
smoke-free law is reasonable.. In this case we
must conclude that it is.
Kentucky Supreme Court Decision, April 2004
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What Difference Do Smoke-free Laws Make?
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How Do We Know that Smoke-free Laws Protect
Workers?
Worker hair nicotine dropped 56 post-law
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Ventilation Does Not Work

• Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
  systems distribute secondhand smoke throughout a
  building.
• Conventional air cleaning systems remove large
  particles, but not the smaller particles or gases
  in secondhand smoke.
• Simple separation AND ventilation do NOT work!

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Enclosed Smoking Rooms Do Not Work
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The Truth about Indoor Smoking Areas
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What Does the Tobacco Industry Say About
Ventilation?

• Business owners should have some flexibility in
  deciding how best to address the preferences of
  non-smokers and smokers through separation,
  separate rooms and/or high quality ventilation.
  Philip Morris, 2002

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How Do Smoke-free Laws Affect Business?

• Numerous scientific studies show business
  improves or remains the same.
• The only reports showing a downturn in business
  have been funded by the tobacco, alcohol, and/or
  gaming industries.

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How Did Lexingtons Smoke-free Law Impact
Business?

• An average of 400 additional restaurant employees
  per month (3 of total restaurant employment)
• Bar employment stable
• No change in business openings or closings

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Why Does the Tobacco Industry Fight Smoke-free
Laws?

• Financial impact of smoking bans will be
  tremendous 3 to 5 fewer cigarettes per day per
  smoker will reduce annual manufacturer profits a
  billion dollars plus per year.
• A Smokers Alliance, Phillip Morris, 8/1/93

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What are the Costs of Exposure toSecondhand
Smoke?

• Over 5 billion in direct medical costs per year
  in the U.S.
• Over 5 billion in indirect costs per year in the
  U.S.

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Are We Making Progress?

• There has been a 70 reduction in secondhand
  smoke exposure in U.S. nonsmokers since 1988, due
  in large part to smoke-free laws.
• Unfortunately, more than 3.6 million Kentuckians
  (91) are still exposed to secondhand smoke in
  public places and workplaces.
• Source U.S. Surgeon General, 2006