ASH Supports Restaurant Smoking Ban in New Hampshire - Read ASH's Letter [03/09/06-5]

Yesterday, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) wrote to each member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives in support of a bill -- TO BE CONSIDERED TODAY -- which would ban smoking in restaurants.

ASH also urged its members, antismoking activists around the country, and visitors to our award-winning web site to send their own messages of support. We provided a single email address so they could send one message to more than 300 legislators.

So far, many people have used this service to encourage the legislators to pass the bill. You can to. Please see:
http://no-smoking.org/march06/03-08-06-3.html

Below is a copy of the message ASH sent to the legislators:


Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the Nation's oldest and largest antismoking organization, urges you to pass HB 1177 -- a bill to protect workers, as well as customers, tourists, and other visitors from the proven dangers of secondhand tobacco smoke. Here are just a few examples of how dangerous tobacco smoke pollution is:

INFORMATION RE HEALTH

* Drifting tobacco smoke can trigger asthmatic attacks, bronchial infections, and other serious health problems in nonsmokers. This is especially true for the almost 100 million Americans who have asthma, chronic bronchitis, chronic sinusitis, emphysema, and other breathing related conditions which make them especially susceptible to secondhand tobacco smoke. The additional and totally unnecessary medical care costs are huge

* Every major governmental, scientific, and medical body which has studied the issue has concluded that tobacco smoke pollution causes lung cancer and lung cancer deaths in nonsmokers. Indeed, the federal government has officially declared it to be a "known human carcinogen" in the same category as asbestos. Your state would not permit any business to subject anyone -- even workers performing renovations -- to any unnecessary exposure, however slight, to asbestos. For exactly the same reason, your state should not permit any business to subject anyone -- including waiters, waitresses, and bar tenders, as well as customers -- to tobacco smoke.

* Tobacco smoke has also been shown to cause heart attacks in nonsmokers, and it has been implicated in causing breast cancer also. For these reasons, California has now officially declared tobacco smoke -- even outdoors -- to be a "toxic air contaminant" in the same category as asbestos.

* Even for some people without respiratory conditions, breathing drifting tobacco smoke for even brief periods can be deadly. For example, the Centers for Disease Controls [CDC] has warned that breathing drifting tobacco smoke for as little as 30 minutes can raise a nonsmokers risk of suffering a fatal heart attack to that of a smoker. Here's part of what the CDC reported in a major medical journal: “Could eating in a smoky restaurant precipitate an acute myocardial infarction [heart attack] in a non-smoker? As unlikely as this sounds, a growing body of scientific data suggests that this is possible. . . . Clinicians should be aware that such exposure can pose acute risks, and all patients at increased risk of coronary heart disease or with known coronary artery disease should be advised to avoid all indoor environments that permit smoking." NOTE: Patients said to be at increased risk for coronary heart disease include men over 40 and post-menopausal women, those who are obese, don't get enough exercise, have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, and those with a personal or family history of heart problems -- in other words, many if not most voters.

* An article in Circulation magazine [a peer-reviewed scientific journal] entitled "Cardiovascular Effects of Secondhand Smoke - Nearly as Large as Smoking," concluded that: “The effects of even brief (minutes to hours) passive smoking are often nearly as large (averaging 80% to 90%) as chronic active smoking.” [emphasis added]

* Smoking bans do save lives. Here, again, is what the CDC has reported: "In this context, the results of the observational study in Helena, MT are provocative: hospital admissions for acute myocardial infarction declined by about 40% during the six months in which a comprehensive local ordinance on clean air was in effect, and rebounded after the ordinance was suspended." Similarly, the Pueblo City-County Health Department announced that the smoking ban in Pueblo, Colorado, resulted in a 27% drop in hospital admissions for heart attacks.

INFORMATION RE PUBLIC ATTITUDES

* A recent poll said New Hampshire residents support a workplace smoking ban by a margin of more than four to one -- 79% favor, 18% did not
* 88% of Democrats and 72% of Republicans polled supported a ban; 80% of undeclared voters also supported a smoking ban
* 84% said they were concerned about the health effects of secondhand smoke
* 87% said workers should be protected from secondhand smoke
* Of SMOKERS polled, 58% said they believed the right of people to breathe clean air in restaurants and bars outweighed their right to smoke in those places
* 93% said they would enjoy going out more if they didn’t end up smelling like smoke after visiting a bar or restaurant
* 16% said a smoking ban would encourage them to eat out, while only 4% said a ban would discourage them
* Similar bills have failed in the past, when the N.H. Lodging and Restaurant Association opposed the idea, but since all neighboring states already have similar laws, proprietors are no longer worried about driving business over the borders with a smoking ban

RIGHTS

Every court which has addressed the issue has concluded that there is no right to smoke, especially in public accommodations and in the workplace. In other words, there is no need to balance the rights of nonsmokers against any alleged right to smoke.

Governments already impose dozens if not hundreds of regulations on restaurants to protect public health -- e.g., no dogs, shirts and shoes required, sneeze guards, etc. -- and businesses cannot avoid it by setting contrary policies, posting appropriate signs on the door, etc. Moreover, employers cannot pressure workers to "voluntarily" accept unnecessary risks on the job -- e.g., exposure to asbestos, not wearing safety harnesses where necessary -- even if they the workers are paid more.

Cigarettes are a legal product, and it is not a crime to smoke them. But alcoholic beverages, gambling dice, fireworks, boom boxes, trail motorcycles, and formula 1 racing cars are all also legal products and it is not a crime to use them -- but this certainly doesn't mean that there is a right to use them in public places, or that governments have any responsibility for providing places to use all such products.

In short, the arguments of personal rights or business rights have no application whatsoever regarding the release of toxic and carcinogenic substances where they will be breathed by innocent bystanders

CONCLUSION

A growing number of states, more than half a dozen western countries, and dozens of cities, counties, and towns have now banned smoking in restaurants and bars. The results, according to the governments themselves, as well as the media, have been overwhelmingly positive, with no major opposition or enforcement problems.

Moreover, every valid and unbiased study of the issue of which we are aware has found -- despite dire predictions -- no adverse economic impact. The ones which show significant losses of business are usually anecdotal (rather than based upon hard data like reportable taxable revenue), sponsored by those who oppose such bans, unpublished, and lacking in acceptable scientific and statistical techniques. For more information, please see: http://ash.org/econ

For all of these reasons, we strongly urge you to support the bill. Please feel free to call us if we can be of any additional assistance.
PROFESSOR JOHN F. BANZHAF III
Executive Director and Chief Counsel
Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
(202) 659-4310 //  http://ash.org

This information is presented as a public service by:

Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
2013 H Street NW / Washington, DC 20006 / (202) 659-4310
A national nonprofit, scientific and educational organization founded in 1967.
All donations are fully tax deductible.

Material on this page may be freely reproduced, distributed, and circulated
with attribution given to Action on Smoking and Health.

Dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Wells