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Date: 7/31/2002
Time: 11:16:35 AM
Remote Name: 207.196.234.216
Remote User:
Let’s Clear the Air
It is time for the city of Billings to clear the air and become smoke-free. Hundreds of communities around the country have enacted laws to protect workers and the general public from exposure to the deadly toxins in tobacco smoke. Now it’s our turn.
Secondhand smoke is more than a smelly annoyance. Recent analyses of research studies confirm that the dangers of tobacco smoke are greater than even previously identified. Annually, the smoke from other people’s tobacco is responsible for the deaths of over 65,000 non-smokers. By way of comparison, the tragedy of drunk driving kills 16,600 each year. In fact, breathing secondhand smoke kills more people than car accidents, AIDS, homicides, fires and illegal drug use combined. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of adults and children suffer respiratory illnesses and other chronic disorders from exposure to secondhand smoke.
This information is not new and people want something done about it. In a recent scientific poll, 79% of Billings residents supported a city ordinance that would prohibit smoking in indoor public places so that children and adults would be protected from the health hazards of secondhand smoke. In Helena, a similar law was passed by the city council and supported by an overwhelming majority of voters in spite of organized and costly opposition. Locally, the United Tobacco Free Coalition has collected thousands of petition signatures for such an ordinance in Billings.
This ordinance is necessary because many workers have no choice but to work in a smoky environment and inhale other people’s smoke on a daily basis. No one should have to breathe poison in order to hold a job. Ninety-five percent of Billings residents agree that all workers have the right to work in a smoke free environment.
Some will argue that this action will hurt the hospitality industry in Billings even though there is no research to indicate that businesses in communities that have gone smoke-free have lost money. All research, except a few small unscientific studies conducted by big tobacco companies, indicates that in smoke free communities revenues have either not been impacted or have increased. Smokers are a small minority in Yellowstone County (22% of the population), and 81% of those polled, smokers and non-smokers, agreed that food, drink and atmosphere being equal, they would choose a smoke-free restaurant, bar or casino over one that allows smoking. It seems that there is a large untapped market in our area.
Some will also argue that smoking is legal for adults and it is an individual’s right to light up if they want to. The common sense approach to this issue is that an individual’s right to smoke should never supersede the right of another to breathe non-toxic air. This issue is not about the rights of individuals or business owners, it is about public health.
The Billings City Council must demonstrate true community leadership to insure equal protection to workers and the public from secondhand smoke. The Clean Indoor Air Task Force of the Billings Healthy Community Coalition has drafted an ordinance for the city of Billings and has submitted this document to the Mayor and city council members. The draft ordinance and the latest community survey results can be viewed on the United Tobacco Free Coalition’s Website, located at www.TobaccoFreeMontana.org. Citizens are encouraged to contact city council members and urge them to support policy that will eliminate secondhand smoke in all indoor public places.