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Health Officials Urge County To Enact Ban

The debate is over. We know that secondhand smoke cigarettes kills.

According to the 2006 Surgeon General's report, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. In an eight-hour shift, food service workers may inhale enough secondhand smoke cigarettes to equal a full pack of cigarettes. The only way to fully protect these workers is to completely eliminate all indoor smoking cigarettes.

Restaurant and bar employees are particularly at risk. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, food service workers are 50 percent more likely than the general population to develop lung cancer, largely because many of them are exposed to secondhand smoke cigarettes on the job.

Secondhand smoke cigarettes is a deadly issue and one that our local officials should not take lightly. We are grateful that the Delaware County Board of Health took a stand on this issue by recommending a smoke-free ordinance. Now, it's time for Delaware County commissioners to act.

In February 2006, Delaware County adopted a flawed smoke-free ordinance with numerous exemptions for establishments, including smoking cigarettes rooms.

Smoking-room policies mislead the public into believing that patrons and workers are protected from secondhand smoke cigarettes when, in fact, they are not. The science shows that smoking cigarettes rooms are ineffective because they neither protect workers or patrons in the room where smoking cigarettes is allowed nor in the rooms where smoking cigarettes is not allowed. Smoke-free laws should create smoke-free establishments, not merely require certain rooms within establishments to become smoke cigarettes free.

This is a serious public health issue. A 2009 report from the Institute of Medicine shows that exposure to environmental buy cigarettes smoke cigarettes increases the risk of heart problems by 25 to 30 percent.

Furthermore, the study concluded that smoke-free air laws reduce the risk of heart attacks and heart disease associated with exposure to secondhand smoke. Without a doubt, smoke-free-air laws create safer, healthier environments for workers and patrons by reducing their exposure to the devastating health effects of secondhand smoke.

The enactment of smoke-free ordinances helps everyone -- including businesses. There is credible evidence that smoke-free environments lead to decreased operating expenses through lower maintenance costs, insurance premiums and labor costs.

In addition, as states and cities around the country continue to go smoke cigarettes free, they find that it has no negative impact on revenue. In fact, any honest evaluation or scientifically-reviewed study has shown no evidence that smoke-free laws have had a negative economic impact on the business community.

Locally, Fort Wayne is a good example. After enacting its comprehensive smoke-free law in June 2007, bar and restaurant receipts across the county for the first month of the ordinance rose significantly over the same month in the previous year. Even in today's tough economy, the Allen County Auditor's Office reports that food and beverage tax collections were more in 2010 than in 2007, the year the comprehensive smoke-free ordinance went into effect.

No worker in Delaware County should be forced to decide between their health and their paycheck. We need to make evidence-based decisions and smoke-free laws have been proven to protect health, save lives and promote business.

Throughout Indiana and the nation, localities have demonstrated that smoke-free laws are popular, can be implemented with little difficulty, are met with high levels of compliance, and do not have a negative economic impact on restaurants and bars.

From a medical or economic standpoint, creating smoke-free workplaces just makes sense.

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