The article notes that while it used to be assumed that smokers have a right to smoke in their homes, more people are realizing that nonsmokers [...]]]> The Washington Post has a good story this week detailing how more nonsmokers who live in apartments and condos are speaking up about secondhand smoke intruding into their living spaces.

The article notes that while it used to be assumed that smokers have a right to smoke in their homes, more people are realizing that nonsmokers also have a right to breathe clean air in their homes.

Secondhand smoke is more than just a nuisance — it’s a health hazard. For children and people with asthma or compromised immune systems, secondhand smoke is particularly harmful.

The story quotes one resident whose young daughter has asthma:

I leave doors and windows open, even as I sleep … I’ve moved to sleep in my daughter’s room now because the other side of the apartment is full of smoke.

That’s just wrong. Sorry folks, but the right to breathe clean air in one’s home trumps the “right” to smoke in one’s home every time.

If you live in a condo, apartment building or co-op, there are certain rules you have to abide by to ensure the comfort and basic health of everyone else. You can’t have band practice at 3 a.m. You can’t light a bonfire in your living room. Some condos have rules about noxious cooking odors.

Secondhand smoke is a lot worse than that. Let’s hope more nonsmokers speak up for their rights. Ask the smoker to smoke outside (this actually worked for me once). Petition your board or management association to make the building smokefree. File a nuisance complaint within your condo or apartment structure.

See more tips.

The study, by Indiana University’s School of Medicine, comes as the state considers enacting a smokefree workplace law.

Clearly, it should. The numbers alone are staggering – the cost of secondhand smoke amounts to $201 [...]]]> Secondhand smoke costs the state of Indiana $1.3 billion – yes, billion with a “b” — per year, a new study shows.

The study, by Indiana University’s School of Medicine, comes as the state considers enacting a smokefree workplace law.

Clearly, it should. The numbers alone are staggering – the cost of secondhand smoke amounts to $201 per Hoosier per year. And 1,400 of the 50,000 deaths that are attributable each year in the U.S. to secondhand smoke occur in Indiana.

What are Indiana lawmakers waiting for?

So muttered the woman next to me at a community meeting convened last night in the Greenbelt Community Center last night to discuss the problem of intrusion of secondhand smoke from one apartment to another. The woman was not very sympathetic to the plight of nonsmokers. What an appalling comment. I wonder how she [...]]]> “That’s life.”

So muttered the woman next to me at a community meeting convened last night in the Greenbelt Community Center last night to discuss the problem of intrusion of secondhand smoke from one apartment to another. The woman was not very sympathetic to the plight of nonsmokers. What an appalling comment. I wonder how she would feel if she was the one breathing secondhand smoke all the time.

The meeting was called by David Schuman, who is suing his Greenbelt Homes neighbor over secondhand smoke that regularly seeps into Schuman’s apartment. The idea was to discuss the issue with his neighbors and provide information.

Also presenting were James Repace, a reknowned health physicist and expert on secondhand smoke; John O’Hara, founder of Maryland GASP; a couple from Montgomery County who are suing a condo neighbor over secondhand smoke; and a woman from Montgomery County who also is suing over a neighbor’s secondhand smoke.

The room was packed and the discussion lively. A few good points were made:

First, that secondhand smoke is a poison. There is no safe level of exposure to it. Second, that the situation of one resident’s smoke intruding into another resident’s home is no different from other things deemed nuisances by most condo boards and apartment managers. For instance, many condo rules have clauses prohibiting noxious cooking smells or loud noises.

One woman, a neighbor of Schuman’s who has had to use her asthma inhaler and sleep in another room because of cigarette smoke coming into her home, noted that if a resident were burning tires and sending toxic fumes into other dwellings, the coop and city would immediately order him to stop.

Ben Kramer, a Maryland state delegate, was in attendance. He has taken an interest in the issue. Let’s hope he can do something when the Legislature convenes next year.

In the meantime, to the woman who muttered “that’s life,” may your neighbor start burning tires in his backyard tomorrow.

Way to go Philadelphia; Mayor Michael Nutter has signed an executive order making the city’s pools, playgrounds and recreation centers smokefree.

The change takes effect July 1. It’s great news for parents who don’t want their kids to be exposed to the toxins in secondhand smoke. And great news for the kids [...]]]>

flickr photo courtesy of lysbyth

Way to go Philadelphia; Mayor Michael Nutter has signed an executive order making the city’s pools, playgrounds and recreation centers smokefree.

The change takes effect July 1. It’s great news for parents who don’t want their kids to be exposed to the toxins in secondhand smoke. And great news for the kids too.

But at least one news outlet couldn’t help but editorialize. The local Fox News station called the move “another shot at smokers, further limiting their right to consume a legal product.”

Excuse me? It’s not a ban, despite what headline writers say. The order doesn’t say you can’t smoke – it just says you have to go somewhere else to do it. The mayor is saying that smokers can’t poison the air for others at pools, playgrounds and recreation centers.

Oh, Fox News also counted more than 100 cigarette butts on the ground at the recreation center where the mayor made his announcement.

Given that secondhand smoke has 4,000 chemicals, more than 69 of which are known or suspected carcinogens, and given that the U.S. Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and given that studies show the effects of secondhand smoke are particularly acute for children, we say the mayor of Philadelphia did a great thing today.

If they can do it in North Dakota, it can be done anywhere.

North Dakota’s capital city is making bars smokefree. Voters this week approved a smokefree bar measure by 60 percent. What’s more, they rejected a proposal for outdoor smoking huts.

The final tally: 5,273 voted to make [...]]]>

smoker no. 85 by filtran, courtesy of flickr

If they can do it in North Dakota, it can be done anywhere.

North Dakota’s capital city is making bars smokefree. Voters this week approved a smokefree bar measure by 60 percent. What’s more, they rejected a proposal for outdoor smoking huts.

The final tally: 5,273 voted to make bars, truck stops and tobacco stores smokefree while 3,554 voted against. The measure permitting smoking huts was defeated by a 4,482-4,285 margin.

Unlike many cities (such as Washington, D.C.), Bismarck isn’t wasting time in implementing its new law; it takes effect next week.

The organization now counts 3,173 U.S. municipalities a smokefree indoor air law is in effect, 902 of which provide complete protection for non-hospitality workplaces, and/or restaurants, and/or bars.

Check out ANR’s new information.

This should be interesting, because Greece has one of the highest rates of smoking among European countries — 42 percent of adults smoke. A whopping six of 10 workers surveyed said they are exposed to secondhand smoke at their workplaces every day. [...]]]> Greece is going smokefree. According to CNN, the government’s slogan is “cut smoking, gain life.”

This should be interesting, because Greece has one of the highest rates of smoking among European countries — 42 percent of adults smoke. A whopping six of 10 workers surveyed said they are exposed to secondhand smoke at their workplaces every day. But it’s definitely the right thing to do, for the sake of the majority of the population who are nonsmokers. Further, this will cut down on Greece’s health care bill.

To help make this work, the government is imposing stiff fines: between $650 and $12,750 for each violation . The fine will double when there’s a recurrence.

Under the law, all indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, will be smokefree.

Think again. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that children who are raised in smokefree homes and live in smokefree communities have less cotinine – a byproduct of cigarette [...]]]> So you’d figure that if your kids are growing up in a non-smoking household, their exposure to secondhand smoke will be pretty minimal, right?

Think again. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that children who are raised in smokefree homes and live in smokefree communities have less cotinine – a byproduct of cigarette smoke - in their blood kids who live in smokefree homes but live in communities without smokefree laws.

The children who lived in both smokefree homes and counties with smokefree laws had 39 percent less cotinine in their blood than their counterparts who lived in counties without smokefree laws.

Turns out it was the Australian Medical Association mentioned in an item on the Australian Broadcasting Company Web site. That AMA has called for major [...]]]> I must admit that when I ran across a news item on ABC online about the AMA calling for outdoor venues to be smokefree, I thought “Whoa! This is big news!”

Turns out it was the Australian Medical Association mentioned in an item on the Australian Broadcasting Company Web site. That AMA has called for major public venues to follow the lead of the Perth Zoo and be smokefree.

A check of the Australian Medical Association’s Web site finds a pretty strong position statement on tobacco and secondhand smoke:

Workers in bars and pubs have just as much right to a safe, smoke-free workplace as anyone else. The only way to protect workers’ health is to ban smoking in all workplaces. … There is no credible research to support the claim that total smoke bans in licensed venues will harm business and cause loss of jobs.

I checked the American Medical Association Web site and found fairly dated information with references about that association supporting state coalition efforts to reduce tobacco use.

So how about it, American Medical Association? Do you want to take a strong stand on smokefree air and follow your Australian counterpart?