Public Bans Reduce Smoking at Home

Kate Kelland headlined in Reuters (February 14, 2012), "Public bans mean smokers also light up less at home."

She wrote: "Smoking bans in offices, restaurants and other public places don't drive smokers to light up more at home, but in fact prompt them to impose their own extra restrictions on the habit, according to a European study published on Tuesday."  Read the full story. 

Powerful Truths About Smoking

Smoking Ban in WP Parks & Playgrounds

The Common Council has agreed to consider a ban on smoking in White Plains' parks and playgrounds.  Hopefully, it will act to adopt the ban before the 2011 parks and recreation season gets underway.

Most people, including most smokers, know that second hand smoke is seriously harmful, leading to increased rates of heart disease, respiratory illness, and cancer, particularly in the young and elderly. The risks are substantial.  The Surgeon General says "There is no safe amount of second hand smoke."  Deleterious effects start just seconds after exposure!

In order to eliminate or reduce the dangers of second hand smoke, Federal, State and County laws have banned smoking in many environments where non-smokers are involuntarily exposed, such as airplanes, public transportation, restaurants, bars, and workplaces. Locally, private hospitals and medical groups have banned smoking on their campuses, so have hotels, colleges and the White Plains Public Schools.

Banning smoking in our parks and playgrounds will inconvenience some smokers, but like most Americans, they are law-abiding and will make the sacrifice for the good of others.  A few will be reported to Public Safety for persistent violation of the new statute.

The ban on smoking in parks and playgrounds will cost almost nothing to implement, will meet with widespread approval, and will measurably increase the health, safety and quality of life for those enjoying our parks and playgrounds.

Let's get this done now and start working on a ban for the last vulnerable venue -- multifamily housing.

Hospitals Shift Smoking Bans to Smoker Ban

By A. G. SULZBERGER in the New York Times, February 10, 2011

“More hospitals and medical businesses in many states are adopting strict policies that make smoking a reason to turn away job applicants, saying they want to increase worker productivity, reduce health care costs and encourage healthier living.”

“'This shift — from smoke-free to smoker-free workplaces — has prompted sharp debate, even among anti-tobacco groups, over whether the policies establish a troubling precedent of employers intruding into private lives to ban a habit that is legal.”

Read “Hospitals Shift Smoking Bans to Smoker Ban.”

The Elusive 'Smoke-Free' Home

Roni Caryn Rabin, writing in the New York Times on December 13, 2010, said a new study found that even children who live in "smoke-free" apartments are exposed to tobacco smoke. "Children living in apartments had higher levels of the chemical [cotinine, a tobacco metabolite used to assess exposure to secondhand smoke] in their systems than those who lived in detached houses, even though their own units were smoke-free zones."

Read the complete New York Times story.

CUNY Bans Smoking on All Campuses

“CUNY’s move is the latest in a wave of comprehensive smoking bans on college campuses nationwide, a trend that began about five years ago and has gathered momentum in recent months. The American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy group, reported this month that at least 466 campuses had completely banned smoking or passed resolutions to do so.”

Read the complete New York Times story.

Smoking Causes Gene Damage in Minutes

The statistical link between smoking and cancer has been long known. Now there's clear evidence based on the study of individuals who smoke. In a study funded by the National Cancer Institute and reported in Chemical Research in Toxicology, researchers said the "effect is so fast that it's equivalent to injecting the substance directly into the bloodstream." More in the AFP article picked up by Yahoo! News.