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?

Cain was a lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, and in that capacity met frequently with tobacco industry lobbyists. He even signed up for a [...]]]> Herman Cain, the former pizza CEO now running for president in the Republican primary, worked closely with the tobacco industry and supported efforts to defeat smokefree workplace policies, Think Progress reports.

Cain was a lobbyist for the National Restaurant Association, and in that capacity met frequently with tobacco industry lobbyists. He even signed up for a pro-tobacco publicity tour.

In addition:

Blurring the lines between restaurant industry caretaker and tobacco company representative, Cain accepted hefty donations from tobacco corporations. Cain worked to snuff out a Senate bill that would have reigned in smoking at restaurants and other facilities around the country.

‘Nuff said.

The D.C. Council today approved a measure that would limit it to two events per year: Fight Night (a charity fundraiser) and the annual event held by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, to which Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) [...]]]> On the bright side, the huge exemption to the smokefree workplaces law just got just smaller.

The D.C. Council today approved a measure that would limit it to two events per year: Fight Night (a charity fundraiser) and the annual event held by the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, to which Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) has ties.

That’s about the only good thing that we can say. The fact that the Council cavalierly and permanently weakened the popular health law is hugely problematic. The fact that it did so by bypassing the committee process – therefore ensuring no public input or debate – is even worse.

The Council was so caught up in a heated debate over taxes and bonds that they didn’t even debate the exemption, which is for two cigar-smoking events a year.

It was amusing, though, to witness Evans’ hypocrisy. He had the gall to complain that his colleagues had bypassed the committee process on the tax issue … which of course is exactly what he and Councilmember Michael Brown (D-At Large) did when pushing the smokefree exemption. In fact, he even told us when we ran into him recently at the Wilson Building that he bypassed the committee process because otherwise, he would lose.

So there you have it. Not a proud moment for the D.C. Council.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society in the Republic of Ireland have found fewer cases of middle ear infection in American homes with less secondhand smoke.

Said the lead author, Hillel Alpert, who is with [...]]]> A new study underscores the dangers of secondhand smoke to children.

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Research Institute for a Tobacco Free Society in the Republic of Ireland have found fewer cases of middle ear infection in American homes with less secondhand smoke.

Said the lead author, Hillel Alpert, who is with Harvard,

If parents avoid smoking at home, they can protect their children from the disease that is the most common cause of visits to physicians and hospitals for medical care.

Learn more about the study here.

According to the report, nearly half of all deaths in the District are preventable. Tobacco use is responsible for a third of preventable deaths and 16.6 percent of all deaths in D.C.

Other causes [...]]]> Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in the District of Columbia, a new report by the city’s Department of Health finds.

According to the report, nearly half of all deaths in the District are preventable. Tobacco use is responsible for a third of preventable deaths and 16.6 percent of all deaths in D.C.

Other causes of preventable death in the District include poor diet and inactivity (15.1 percent of all deaths), infections (4.6 percent), alcohol use (2.9 percent), firearms (2.7 percent), medical errors (also 2.7 percent), toxic agents (2.1 percent), sexual behavior (0.8 percent), illicit drugs (0.8 percent), motor vehicles (0.6 percent) and lack of insurance (0.6 percent).

The report is the first of its kind for the District, which analyzed vital statistics and other data. Note the difference between “cause of preventable death” and “cause of death” – the leading causes of death in the District are heart disease, cancer and cerebrovascular diseases.

The District’s findings mirror what’s going on nationally, the report notes.

Unfortunately, while the report is thick with numbers, it lacks a strong call to action; the strongest sentence (the last in the report) merely says the challenge is to educate people to encourage behavioral changes and provide people with skills and a healthy environment so they can make healthy lifestyle choices.