Why Smoke Free Day at the Capitol?
Why Should Minnesota Enact Comprehensive Smoke Free Workplace Legislation?
Why Should Minnesota Go Smoke Free in 2007?
Why Should I Participate in the Smoke Free Minnesota Day at the Capitol?
Why Should Minnesota Enact Comprehensive Smoke Free Workplace Legislation?
The evidence is clear: secondhand smoke is harmful. For more than two decades, the nation’s most respected health organizations like the U.S. Surgeon General, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute have come to the same conclusions about secondhand smoke: it’s dangerous and deadly. Each year, the body of scientific evidence continues to grow.
Over the past 20 years, hundreds of scientific studies have shown the dangers associated with secondhand smoke. A few of the most noteworthy include:
1986: The U.S. Surgeon General released one of the first studies on the dangers of secondhand smoke. It reported that involuntary smoking is a cause of disease, including lung cancer, in healthy nonsmokers.1
1992: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency concluded that widespread exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious and substantial public health danger. Specifically, it reported that secondhand smoke is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year in U.S. nonsmokers.2
1997: A National Cancer Institute monograph linked significant health effects, including coronary heart disease, nasal sinus cancer and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with exposure to secondhand smoke.3
2006: The U.S. Surgeon General released the most comprehensive scientific report ever produced on the health harms of secondhand smoke. The report states that “massive and conclusive scientific evidence documents adverse effects of involuntary smoking on children and adults, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases in adults, and adverse respiratory effects in both children and adults.” The report further concludes that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.4
1The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 1986.
2Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1992.
3Monograph 10: Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke. National Cancer Institute. 1999.
4The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2006
Why Should Minnesota Go Smoke Free in 2007?
Scientific research and experience has told us what works to reduce the dangers of secondhand smoke. Comprehensive smoke free policies clear the air of cancer-causing chemicals, help people quit tobacco use and reduce health care costs. Because of this, such policies are overwhelmingly supported in Minnesota communities that have gone smoke free.
Smoke free policies significantly improve public health.
Smoke free policies = cleaner air
- Hennepin County’s comprehensive smoke free ordinance helped reduce harmful air pollution in bars and restaurants by 99 percent.5
- Following the implementation of a statewide smoke free law, Delaware hospitality venues observed a 95 percent drop in carcinogens and a 90 percent decrease in air pollutants.6
Cleaner air = better health
- Between 1988 and 1997, when California implemented smoke free policies, lung cancer rates dropped significantly more than in other areas of the country. The decline among California men was 1.5 times greater than in other areas. Among California women, lung cancer declined 4.8 percent, while rates increased 13.2 percent elsewhere.7
Smoke free policies help people quit tobacco use.
- Many studies have shown that smokers whose workplaces are smoke free are more likely to quit smoking at an increased rate than smokers whose workplaces have weak smoke free policies or no such policies at all.8
Smoke free policies reduce health care costs.
- Exposure to secondhand smoke costs Americans more than $9.5 billion a year because of excess medical care, death and disease.9
5Griffin T, Bohac D, Schillo BA. Indoor Air Quality in Bars and Restaurants Before and After Implementation of Smoke-Free Ordinances in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. ClearWay MinnesotaSM 2005.
6Repace J. An Air Quality Survey of Respirable Particles and Particulate Carcinogens in Delaware Hospitality Venues Before and After a Smoking Ban. The Smokeless States Public Policy Initiative, American Medical Association. 2003.
7Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Declines in lung cancer rates — California, 1988-1997. MMWR. 2000.
8Brownson RC, Hopkins DP, Wakefield MA. Effects of smoking restrictions in the workplace. Annual Rev. Public Health. 2002.
9Behan DF, Eriksen MP, Lin Y. Economic Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke. Society of Actuaries. 2005.
Why Should I Participate in the Smoke Free Minnesota Day at the Capitol?
Every Minnesotan deserves the right to breathe clean air. Unfortunately, there are hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans who are still exposed to the cancer-causing chemicals found in secondhand smoke on a regular basis.
Not long ago, Minnesota was ranked as the nation’s healthiest state, thanks to a strong health care system and a great quality of life. Yet, while the overall health of Minnesotans is positive, we still lag behind nationally in reducing the harm of tobacco. With all we know about the dangers of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, it’s time for elected officials and leaders in the public and private sectors to support comprehensive smoke free workplace legislation that will create a healthier Minnesota.
In order for Minnesota to join the growing list of 100 percent smoke free states including California, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, legislators need to hear from Minnesotans like you.
Participating in the Smoke Free Minnesota Day at the Capitol is an easy and fun way to show your support for comprehensive smoke free workplace legislation. With your help we can ensure that every Minnesotan has the right to breathe clean air!
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