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Attention: non smokers – why should you care if your fellow citizens smoke? After all, you’re not smoking, so you’re not at risk, right? If you are near a burning cigarette, you are “smoking” and ingesting the same cancer-causing toxins as the one who is actively smoking the cigarette. In fact, just “smoking” one cigarette is enough to trigger a heart attack and damage your DNA that can lead to cancer. According to the CDC, even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can be harmful to health.
Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. It also causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and a number of health conditions in children, including middle ear infections, more severe asthma, and respiratory infections.
About 4 in 10 nonsmokers in the US continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke. Almost everyone who lives with somebody who smokes indoors is exposed to secondhand smoke. Children and teens are more likely than adults to live in homes where someone smokes indoors. About 54% of children (aged 3–11 years) are exposed to secondhand smoke. Children are most heavily exposed at home.
Levels of secondhand smoke exposure in the US have greatly dropped during the last 20 years, thanks to protective policies and more awareness. Nearly 88% of nonsmokers in the US were exposed to secondhand smoke during 1988–1991 and about 40% of US nonsmokers were exposed to secondhand smoke during 2007–2008.
Do smokers have a right to smoke? Absolutely! But don’t nonsmokers have a right to NOT “smoke”, too?
Posted: under Uncategorized.
The tobacco industry has been working for decades to misinform the hospitality industry, policymakers and the public into believing their myth that smoke free laws cause negative economic impact for the hospitality industry. New research shows smoke free laws have no negative economic impact on the hospitalityy industry in either rural or urban communities.
Ellen Hahn and Mark Pyles, researchers at University of Kentucky, published a study in June proving once again that this is the case: smoke free laws have no negative economic impact on business in the hospitality industry–no negative economic impact for rural communities and no negative economic impact for urban communities.
The study, which was published in the June edition of the journal Nicotine & Tobacco Research, examined the number of employees, total wages paid, total number of hospitality establishments and accommodation services in communities where a smoke free law was implemented. They found that there was no change in the number of employees or the total number of establishments. Wages increased following the implementation of the law. Furthermore, when breaking down the data to examine each location based on whether it is a rural community or urban community, the study found that there was no evidence of economic loss for either rural or urban communities following implementation of smoke free legislation.
So the short answer is YES! research shows smoke free laws in rural areas also cause no negative economic impact for hospitality establishments. EVERYONE deserves smoke free air at work and play, whether you’re in an urban or rural setting.