News
Smokefree News
Aug. 31, 2010, 9:06PM
Three years later, Houson's smokefree ordinance is still working
(excerpts from Houston Chronicle http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/7180477.html)
Burning leaves outdoors is illegal in Houston. But until three years ago you could still burn leaves indoors -- as long as they were wrapped in a little white piece of paper. That never made sense to me or the schoolchildren I spoke to.
Cigarettes are the most dangerous consumer product in the world... Tobacco-smoke pollution from other people's cigarettes and cigars causes around 50,000 deaths in the United States every year...
As cardiology researcher Dr. Stan Glantz puts it, "cigarettes are mini toxic waste dumps" producing at least 4,500 chemicals. About 80 of those chemicals cause cancer and others are just very toxic.
The effects of tobacco-smoke pollution can be divided into acute and chronic effects. Some of the worst effects are acute asthma attacks, especially in children, and abnormal platelet function in the coronary arteries that cause heart attacks. We now know that these acute effects occur with very short-term exposures to cigarette smoke.
The chronic effects are atherosclerotic changes of the coronary arteries leading to coronary artery disease and the carcinogens causing a variety of cancers. These cancers include the No. 1 cancer killer in men and women, lung cancer.
Smoke-free workplaces are purely a health issue. Just like asbestos in schools, lead in paint and gasoline, and salmonella in your food, it is an issue of the health of both patrons and workers. There is no right to smoke. Houstonians and Texans do have a right to breathe clean air, indoor and outdoor. Every worker has a right to be protected from toxic exposures at work, including tobacco smoke.
The most effective, and cheapest, public-health intervention Texas can implement is to make indoor air smoke-free. You not only remove the toxic effects on nonsmokers and increase the likelihood that smokers will quit smoking, but it also sends a strong message to children that smoking is not glamorous and is not a socially acceptable activity...
Three years ago on Sept. 1, 2007, Houston became a smoke-free city, joining many others around the state... The indoor air in workplaces throughout the city is cleaner and healthier for the citizens of Houston...
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August 27, 2010
Fresh Air Fulton gets smoking ban on ballot
(excerpts from The Fulton Sun)
http://www.fultonsun.com/articles/2010/08/27/news/200news01.txt
"Shall the City of Fulton, Missouri, prohibit smoking in enclosed places of employment, including restaurants and bars for the purpose of promoting public health by decreasing citizen's exposure to secondhand smoke and creating smoke-free environment for workers and citizens within the city limits?"
That is the question Fulton voters will answer Nov. 2 after Fresh Air Fulton succeeded in collecting the necessary number of signatures to have the issue put on the ballot...
Fresh Air Fulton spokesperson Amanda Stevens, a health educator with Counseling and Health Services at Westminster College, said allowing local residents the opportunity to vote on the question is the right thing to do.
"I think that Fulton citizens need to have the right to vote on this issue," Stevens said. "If the city council is not willing to pursue the issue, the people have the right to."...
"I'm just looking forward to having a healthier community," Stevens said. "Our community is ranked pretty low on a lot of health issues. This would be the start of getting better."
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August 26, 2010
Secondhand Smoke Can Cause Lung Inflammation
(excerpts from Eureka Alert
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/aps-ssm082610.php )
Secondhand smoke is associated with a number of diseases and conditions, including cancer, heart disease, and emphysema. It is an irritant to lung tissue and blood vessels, but the processes through which the body reacts to secondhand smoke comprise a mystery scientists are only beginning to unravel. Researchers at the University of Colorado-Denver are currently studying how secondhand smoke affects the lungs of rats, and so far it appears that second-hand smoke triggers a complex inflammatory response.
To determine how lung tissue may respond to secondhand smoke, rats were exposed a mixture of 89% sidestream smoke, which comes from the end of a lit cigarette and is exposed to the whole body, and 11% mainstream smoke, which is smoke directly inhaled by the rats.
This ratio was chosen because of its similarity to the human experience with second-hand smoke, said Dr. Kratzer. "This is much like what a human would be exposed to at a bar or casino."
Other rats were assigned to the control group and were exposed only to regular room air.
Two months of exposure to secondhand smoke were enough to cause significant changes in the rats' lung tissue, and the results were even more profound in rats exposed for four months. Researchers found:
- Enlargement in the space in the lungs' tiny sacs where oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange takes place during respiration. This suggests the structure had begun to break down, much as it does in early emphysema.
- Increased numbers of white blood cells in the alveolar space, indicating the rats' bodies had mounted an immune response. What's more, the white blood cells were distorted, as if they had engulfed particles, which might impair their function.
- Increased levels of interleukin-18, which is produced by white blood cells in response to strong inflammatory reactions and tissue destruction.
Inhibited growth and proliferation of endothelial cells in the lung's blood vessels, which can lead to chronic inflammation as seen in diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
August 24, 2010
Webb City Council to consider Smokefree Ordinance
( excerpts from Joplin Globe at http://www.joplinglobe.com/local/x2137445032/Webb-City-Council-to-consider-ban-on-smoking and KSN-TV 16 at http://fourstateshomepage.com/search-fulltext?nxd_id=141725 )
The City Council for Webb City has joined the debate on whether to ban indoor smoking in public places. ...the council voted 6-2 on Monday to allow a ban on smoking to be brought before the public as either an ordinance or through a public hearing.
"I know for a fact that lives will be saved if we put this smoke ban in operation," said council member Don Darby.
The Bradburry Bishop Deli on Main Street banned smoking about four years ago. Sheri Roosevelt is a manager and is glad they initiated the rule. She's a non-smoker and has been a waitress for 20 years. She says secondhand smoke caused her to get asthma.
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August 24, 2010
Bismarck City Commission OKs smoking ordinance
(Excerpts from the Bismarck Tribune)
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_9c306998-afdc-11df-a794-001cc4c002e0.html
Lighting up in Bismarck bars becomes illegal Nov. 1.
City commissioners on Tuesday banned smoking in all pubs, smoke houses and truck stops with a 4-1 vote...
The medical community came out in full force in favor of the smoking ban as did several spokespeople of the Bismarck Tobacco Free Coalition.
Dr. Steven Hamar, a Mid Dakota Clinic physician and surgeon, said some 100 studies have been done about secondhand smoke. "They all show that secondhand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer, other cancers, heart attacks and respiratory illnesses ...pulmonary diseasesand asthma," he said.
He quoted U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona's findings from 2006 saying, "Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance anymore, but a serious health threat that causes premature death and diseases in children and non-smoking adults. ... There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke."...
Amy Heuer, president of the Bismarck chapter of the Tobacco Free Coalition, said the purpose of the new code is to protect all employees and all patrons of establishments. "It is a health issue," she said. She said bar employees would not come forward in favor of the ban due to fear of reprisal...
"At the end of the day, it's about health and safety," Commissioner Parrell Grossman said.
Commissioner Josh Askvig agreed, saying the public has the right to be protected from known carcinogens.
"Everyone agrees on one thing -- secondhand smoke is dangerous," Commissioner Brenda Smith said. "I am not for government interference. I, too, am not happy we have to make this decision, but it comes down to we have to look at health and work safety."...
NOTE: Jefferson City is among only 7 state capitol cities that have yet to protect their citizens and visitors with an ordinance for smokefree public places.
=======August 20, 2010
Cigarette smoke causes harmful changes in the lungs even at the lowest levels
First study to show alteration in the function of genes in the lungs resulting from secondhand and low-level smoking
( excerpts from Eureka Alert http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-08/nyph-csc081810.php)
... According to a new study published today in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, being exposed to even low-levels of cigarette smoke may put people at risk for future lung disease, such as lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Epidemiological studies have long shown that secondhand smoke is dangerous, but there have never been conclusive biological tests demonstrating what it does to the body at a gene function level, until now.
"Even at the lowest detectable levels of exposure, we found direct effects on the functioning of genes within the cells lining the airways," says Dr. Ronald Crystal, senior author of the study and chief of the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine at New York - Presbyterian / Weill Cornell and chair of the department of genetic medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.
To make their findings, Dr. Crystal and his collaborators tested 121 people from three different categories: "nonsmokers," "active smokers" and "low exposure smokers." The researchers tested urine levels of nicotine and cotinine -- markers of cigarette smoking within the body -- to determine each participant's category.
The research team then scanned each person's entire genome to determine which genes were either activated or deactivated in cells lining the airways. They found that there was no level of nicotine or cotinine that did not also correlate with genetic abnormalities.
"This means that no level of smoking, or exposure to secondhand smoke, is safe," says Dr. Crystal. He goes on to say that these genetic changes are like a "canary in a coal mine," warning of potential life-threatening disease, "but the canary is chirping for low-level exposure patients, and screaming for active smokers."
Dr. Crystal says that this is further evidence supporting the banning of smoking in public places, where non-smokers, and employees of businesses that allow smoking, are put at risk for future lung disease.
August 17, 2010
Brentwood passes smoking ban
(excerpts from St. Louis Post Dispatch)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_c9f50f9d-44e0-5883-b4ba-fd0b83468df2.html
A tough ban that will snuff out smoking inside all bars and restaurants here won nearly unanimous approval from the Board of Aldermen on Monday night...
Supporters included local representatives of some of the nation's largest health associations that have been involved in the front lines against secondhand smoke: the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes, the American Lung Association and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse.
Kathi Harness, director of government relations for the Lung Association here, called Brentwood's ordinance "healthy progressive policy."
"This is a public health issue," Harness said. "And so far, 35 states and thousands of municipalities have promoted the public health of their citizens by enacting smoke-free laws."
Before the vote, St. Louis County Councilwoman Barbara Fraser, who introduced and pushed St. Louis County's indoor clean air act, encouraged the aldermen and mayor to pass the more restrictive smoke-free ordinance.
The countywide ban, which has more exemptions, will take effect Jan. 2, a day after Brentwood's ban. A smoking ban similar to the county's takes effect in St. Louis the same day. Bans are already in effect in Clayton, Kirkwood, Arnold and Ballwin and throughout the state of Illinois. A ban in Lake Saint Louis takes effect Oct. 1...
Fraser said the Brentwood ban would promote "a healthier environment for workers and customers" at bars and restaurants. "And that's what it's all about."
Brentwood, like Clayton and Kirkwood, will ban smoking at all bars, restaurants, places of employment and public places, with exemptions for some hotel rooms and for private residences, private vehicles and tobacco shops. Patrons of bars and restaurants would be allowed to smoke outside and on patios...
August 13, 2010
Maryville City Council Adopts New Smokefree Ordinance
The Maryville City Council adopted a stronger smokefree ordinance that protects employees and customers from secondhand smoke exposure in all indoor workplaces and public places, including restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and bingo halls.
"We appreciate the city council and mayor's action to protect everyone from the serious health harms of secondhand smoke. No one should have to put their health at risk in order to earn a paycheck or enjoy a night out," said Maryville resident and BreatheEasy Maryville Chair Teri Harr.
The U.S. Surgeon General issued a report in 2006 that found secondhand smoke to be a major risk for heart disease, lung cancer, stroke, emphysema, asthma and other diseases. Studies find that communities that enact smokefree ordinances in public places see significant and dramatic decreases in hospital admissions for cardiovascular conditions.
Maryville's success builds upon the growing trend of smokefree communities in Missouri. The majority of other states have already implemented smokefree laws--including neighboring Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Nebraska--but Missouri has yet to act. Bills introduced in the last legislative session were not reported out of committee.
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August 12, 2010
Study says "very unhealthy" air in some Joplin restaurants
(excerpts from The Fuse Joplin http://thefusejoplin.com/2010/08/12/study-says-very-unhealthy-air-in-some-joplin-restaurants/)
Local city councils received grave numbers, as a study conduced by the University of Missouri - Columbia in conjunction with MissourI Southern State University was made public today regarding the toxicity of air in Joplin restaurants.
The study listed the air in many Joplin restaurants that allow smoking as "very unhealthy."
The study focused on restaurants that allowed smoking, versus those that did not. It named no names, as far as what restaurants were watched.
The results showed that in establishments that allowed smoking, the particulate matter in the air averaged at 182.3 micrograms per cubic meter. In smoke free establishments: 19.5 micrograms per cubic meter.
"It was found just over 6 percent of people in these public places were actually smoking at any given time," said a statement by the advocacy group Smoke-Free Joplin. "Yet, these few active smokers significantly impacted air quality. An average of three cigarettes being smoked at any given time created a level of PM pollution to be considered 'very unhealthy' by the EPA."
EPA standards are also set on the average a person can safely inhale each day. The report noted a full-time employee in one of these public places that allowed smoking would be exposed to 279 percent the EPA's average annual daily limit for PM air pollution.
Smoke Free Joplin says, "The EPA has linked exposure to PM pollution to heart attacks. A growing number of studies have demonstrated significant declines in hospital admissions for heart attacks after communities have implemented smoke-free ordinances."
And that's where their group comes in to play.
The group says their mission is to reduce the impact of second hand smoke. "Whether it is through private buisness decision or through political action, we must call attention to the fact that many of us are exposed to, and are harmed by, secondhand smoke."
Jeff Keener, MS, RRT, RPSGT, Director of Respiratory Services, Freeman Health System; and member of Smoke-Free Joplin, said in a statement, "We encourage our area city councils to consider policies for smoke-free workplaces and public places as a compelling, yet simple way to reduce heart attacks in our community."
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June 10, 2010
Smoking Cessation Counseling Available
The CDC reports that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. Each year in the United States, smoking and exposure to second hand smoke cause 1 in 5 deaths. Among current U.S. adult smokers, 70% report they want to quit smoking and millions have attempted to quit smoking.
The Cole County Health Department will be offering smoking cessation counseling free to the public. Free nicotine replacement patches will be provided by Missouri Foundation for Health, for those people that qualify.
Call the Cole County Health Department at 636-2181, EXT 3107 for more information.
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May 20, 2010
Hospital admissions found to decline since Arizona smokefree law
Arizona hospital admissions for stroke, asthma, heart attacks and angina fell more than 10 percent in the year after a statewide smokefree law took effect, a new study says.
University of Arizona psychology department researchers Patricia M. Herman and Michele E. Walsh analyzed admission data from Arizona's 87 hospitals between January 2004 and May 2008 for Arizona residents only.
The new study shows evidence of a direct relationship between exposure to secondhand smoke and asthma and cardiovascular disease.
Herman and Walsh found that in the 13 months after the law took effect in May 2007, admissions for asthma dropped by 22 percent; heart-attack admissions by 13 percent; admissions for unstable angina by 33 percent and admissions for acute stroke by 14 percent.
For strokes, angina and heart attack, the researchers used data from adult admissions only, but they included babies and children in their analysis of the asthma data, Herman said. The study looked at hospital admissions, not emergency room visits, she stressed.
The cost savings of those reduced hospital admissions was nearly $17 million, the researchers estimate.
"Within the context of the growing body of consistent evidence from studies in other states and regions, the results of this study support the case for substantial health benefits from Arizona's comprehensive statewide smoking ban in areas with no previous bans," the study says. "If one considers the fact that only about 40 percent of the U.S. population is presently covered by a comprehensive smoke-free law, and the need for effective and cost-saving options in health care, comprehensive smoking bans should be considered by any governmental agency, employer or other organization seeking to advocate or implement policies that improve health and reduce health-care costs."
Herman said the Arizona study, which was funded by the Arizona Department of Health Services' Bureau of Tobacco and Chronic Disease, had results similar to health studies conducted in other jurisdictions with smoking bans.
"There's a lot of evidence out there," said Herman, who is also a licensed naturopathic physician. "One of the things I found fascinating, that piqued my interest, was that I think people recognize the long-term effects of smoking, but not the short-term effects. The cardiovascular effects are profound."