Unsafe at Any Level: Why We Need Wider Smoking Law

Passing a stronger smoking ordinance that will keep people from breathing secondhand smoke in restaurants, bars and most indoor public places should be a high priority for Houston City Council this month.
 
With indisputable scientific evidence about the severe health hazards of smoking — including a recent national report on the effects of secondhand smoke — it is time for city leaders to strengthen the smoking law first approved 18 months ago. That original ordinance was a good first step, yet smoking is still allowed in restaurant bars and many public venues where thousands are exposed to secondhand smoke.
 
Houston has lagged behind many cities in enacting any type of smoking ban. More than 220 municipalities in Texas have passed ordinances to limit smoking in some way, with El Paso, Austin, Laredo and Beaumont having the toughest laws, according to an independent study presented September 25 to the council’s Environmental and Public Health Committee. Across the United States, an estimated 44% of the population is protected by smoke-free policies in public places and worksites. At least 11 states have passed laws making them 100% smoke-free.
 
Over the years, City Council has received numerous reports about the dangers of smoking and heard testimony from medical professionals and citizens who want to be protected from secondhand smoke. BreatheFree Houston, a coalition of health organizations, physicians, community groups and concerned citizens, has urged city officials to adopt a comprehensive smoking ban that covers all indoor public places and worksites. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center joined BreatheFree Houston because we want to take a stronger role in educating everyone about the effects of secondhand smoke as well as the overall impact of tobacco use.
 
We have known that smoking causes cancer since 1964, when the first U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health presented the evidence that cigarettes are the major cause of lung cancer. Thousands of scientific studies since then have demonstrated that smoking is the number one avoidable cause of death in the U.S. Not only does smoking cause nearly one-third of all cancers, but it also contributes to excessive rates of heart and cerebrovascular diseases, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
 
Some sobering statistics from the American Cancer Society show that smoking causes an estimated 3.3 million years of potential life lost for men and 2.2 million years of potential life lost for women — combining for an average reduction of 14 years of life expectancy. The health-related costs due to smoking in this country have surpassed $167 billion annually.
 
The 2006 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report released last summer concluded that breathing secondhand smoke at home or work increased a non-smoker’s risk of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30% and of developing heart disease by 25 to 30%. Secondhand smoke kills an estimated 38,000 adult non-smokers and another 6,200 children in this country every year. In addition to cancers and heart disease, it contributes to excessive sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, acute respiratory and ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children.
 
Research has demonstrated that spending two hours in a smoky bar is the equivalent of smoking four cigarettes. The toxic molecules in tobacco smoke cause the damage, and the effects directly correlate with the dose inhaled. Any reasonable person wants to avoid inhaling such biohazards because regardless of the ventilation system there is no safe level of secondhand smoke.
 
A recent poll of Houstonians by Baselice and Associates found that 83% of respondents favor a comprehensive smoking ordinance to protect people from having to breathe secondhand smoke in any public places. Many organizations, including the Greater Houston Restaurant Association, have expressed support for an even stronger smoking ban than City Council now is considering.
 
Numerous studies across the country have shown that smoke-free polices do not have an adverse economic impact on the hospitality industry. An independent economic impact study requested by City Council when Houston’s initial smoking ordinance was implemented in 2005.

Council members have heard ample public testimony and discussed every aspect of smoking policies for many months. It is now time for them to approve a stronger ordinance that will help Houstonians and visitors to our wonderful city breathe smoke-free air.