Like the gun lobby in the U.S., the tobacco industry has been a major lobbyist. In 2011, American tobacco companies were finally forced to concede that they lied to the American public about so-called light cigarettes and the addictiveness of nicotine. In addition, since the 1990s, the health effects of secondhand smoke have come to the forefront. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2011 that secondhand smoke exposure causes lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmoking adults each year. According to the CDC and the Heart Association, long-term exposure to secondhand smoke can raise heart disease rates in adult nonsmokers by 25 percent to 30 percent.
As a result, the CDC also reported in 2011 that the number of states (including the District of Columbia) with laws prohibiting smoking in indoor areas of worksites, restaurants, and bars had increased from zero in 2000 to 26 in 2010. Today, 32 states ban smoking in public places and workplaces, and many cities and other localities do too. However, regional disparities remain with several southern states not having adopted a smoke-free law that prohibits smoking in all three venues.
Federally in Canada, the Non-smokers’ Health Act came into force way back in 1988, covering all employers and workplaces governed by the federal jurisdiction. Subsequently, smoking in Canada was banned in public indoor spaces and workplaces (including restaurants, bars and casinos) by all ten provinces and three territories. Some municipalities in turn passed bylaws restricting smoking further than the applicable national/provincial/territorial legislation.
As of 2015, health authorities reported that about 13% of Canadians smoke. According to the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, the U.S. smoking rate has dropped every year since 1998 to about 20 percent. With fewer and fewer Americans and Canadians smoking tobacco, there is no good reason for governments at all levels not to ban smoking from public places and workplaces. We know what the dangers of secondhand smoke are. We need to protect workers, the public and especially children from exposure to this danger. It’s time that 100 percent of Americans and Canadians are protected from this danger to their health, especially when congregating in indoor public spaces and workplaces.
FROLITICKS 