Smoking ban in public must be approved
Monday, October 17, 2005 8:50 AM PDT
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E-mail this articleInitiative 901 on the November ballot gives Washington voters an opportunity to do what state lawmakers have been unable to get done each of the past several years --- prohibit smoking in public places and places of employment statewide.
This is not a question of personal freedom, as lobbyists for the food and beverage industry would try to spin it. It's a public health issue, pure and simple.
There's no justification for subjecting employees and patrons of restaurants, taverns, bowling alleys or other public places to the well-documented risk of secondhand smoke.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency years ago declared secondhand smoke a class A carcinogen --- the highest cancer risk category. Exposure to it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. The link between secondhand smoke and heart attacks is especially worrisome. The American Heart Association has estimated that 35,000 nonsmokers die each year from effects of secondhand smoke on the heart.
It doesn't take much exposure to secondhand smoke to have an impact on the cardiovascular system. Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, recently reported small doses of secondhand smoke can change blood chemistry. Five minutes exposure stiffens the aorta, the scientists reported. Twenty minutes exposure affects platelet function.
The UC study concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke is about 80 percent as bad as being a smoker.
Voters who aren't persuaded by those findings might consider what this health threat means to their pocket books. Treating illnesses caused by secondhand smoke now is costing Washington taxpayers at least $150 million annually.
Businesses in the hospitality and gambling industries have long argued that the sort of blanket ban I-901 would impose will cut into their profits and cost jobs. The evidence suggest otherwise. Increasing numbers of restaurants in this city are going smoke-free and finding that it's helped their trade. In New York City, bar and restaurant employment and tax receipts have risen in the year since that city imposed a ban on smoking in all public places.
Roughly 80 percent of Washingtonians are nonsmokers. They shouldn't be made to risk the life-threatening consequences of breathing this secondhand smoke. We urge voters to approve Initiative 901.
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