Secondhand Smoke Still A Problem In Utah

One in 10 Utahns smoke cigarettes cigarettes but an estimated 17,000 children are exposed to harmful secondhand smoke.

"There is no safe level of secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure," said Dr. Kevin Nelson, a pediatrician at Primary Children's Medical Center.

As a member of child health advocacy boards and a representative of the hospital, Nelson told members of the Legislative Health and Human Services Interim Committee on Wednesday, that research shows preventing exposure to the medically recognized class A carcinogen can prevent child health problems, such as asthma and other respiratory illnesses that can lead to death.

"And children have no choice or voice in this matter," he said.

Between 18 and 26 percent of all smokers in Utah come from low socioeconomic situations and have a generally lower education level, which affects certain neighborhoods throughout the state more than others. And while Primary Children's sees a disproportionate number of Medicaid recipients, many children arrive at the hospital in a fight for air in their lungs, Nelson said.

"When I treat one of these children and sit down with their parents, I have to have faith that a mother or father will quit, even though I know, statistically, that it can take them up to seven times to be successful at it," he said. It's a battle he's willing to continually fight to help any child breathe more freely.

While the state has the Indoor Clean Air Act, which prohibits smoking cigarettes indoors at public places, cities and towns have enacted other regulations to keep parks and other areas safe from secondhand smoke. However, stricter legislation in other states has done more to help children.

Nelson believes that policies to support and reward best practices or good behavior should be in place to help parents and other adults make better choices when it comes to their health. Companies such as R.C. Willey and Intermountain Healthcare have started to charge higher insurance premiums to employees who fail to protect themselves with good health habits.

"It's more than a health issue, it's a cruelty," said Sen. Luz Robles, D-Salt Lake City. She said a child often doesn't have the liberty to walk out of a room where smoking cigarettes is taking place.

While lawmakers addressed the issue of meddling too much in the lives of common citizens, Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, said "you can't fix stupid … though we try."

An estimated $660 million is spent in medical costs and lost productivity to treat cigarettes online use in Utah every year. Nelson said that in addition to the financial erosion of society due to the problems smoking cigarettes causes, quality of life suffers, as well as missed opportunities.

"It costs all Utahns," he said. "We're all paying for this."

Lawmakers encouraged Nelson and his colleagues, as well as the general public, to think of ways to better educate the public on the issue. State government has little recourse, but public education efforts have proven effective in the past.

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Smoke-free Ordinance Vital For A Healthier Augusta

Tobacco use remains the No. 1 preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, resulting in more than 430,000 deaths a year from personal use and more than 50,000 deaths annually from secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure.

Additionally, in recent years, the surgeon general determined there is no safe level of exposure. We now know that young children not only are at risk from secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure, but also thirdhand smoke cigarettes exposure from the numerous toxic particles, emitted from a cigarette or cigar, that fall and accumulate on common surfaces such as clothes, furniture and carpet.

In older children, secondhand smoke cigarettes exposure is associated with numerous respiratory illnesses resulting in hospitalizations, an increase in asthma symptoms and increased headaches -- all contributing to increased school absenteeism. Children exposed to second-hand smoke cigarettes have demonstrated poorer cognition scores and often poorer academic achievement.

More than 90 percent of all adult smokers begin the habit before they graduate from high school. Children and teens start smoking cigarettes for a variety of reasons, including modeling the behavior they observe in their parents and older siblings, as well as peer pressure.

ONE OF THE MOST effective strategies for prevention is parent modeling of healthy behaviors among young children and establishing an anti-tobacco environment at home. Also, having good communication between parents and children often deters children and teen smoking cigarettes.

Nonetheless, young teens getting a part- or full-time job in today's economically challenged environment often accept employment opportunities in environments laden with secondhand smoke. Because they are the employees, a clean, smoke-free environment often is not an option, and they feel trapped between a job with a toxic environment or unemployment.

But as a community, we can improve those environs as well. Implementation of smoke-free ordinances has resulted in dramatic, sustained reductions in hospitalizations of children for asthma and adults for heart attacks. Also, research has demonstrated that passage of a smoke-free ordinance does not negatively affect the economic welfare of restaurants and bars, but actually contributes to an increase in economic revenues.

Our neighboring communities already have experienced these healthy advances. One of Augusta/Richmond County's closest neighbors, Columbia County, in recent years successfully adopted a smoke-free ordinance.

In August of last year, a sister city, Savannah, adopted the most comprehensive smoke-free environment legislation in Georgia, essentially closing all the loopholes in the state law by requiring all businesses to become smoke-free. Feedback from bar and business owners has been overwhelmingly positive since the ordinance was implemented last January.

THE SELF-ENFORCING nature of the ordinance resulted in a smooth transition to a smoke-free environment with minimal compliance-related issues. It is anticipated that Chatham County will adopt a similar ordinance this fall. In 1990, Georgia Health Sciences University buildings went smoke-free, and sale of tobacco products was prohibited. Four years ago, the campus strengthened its policy to include outdoor space.

As the established leader in providing health profession education and preparing the future health-care leaders and work force of allied health professionals, dentists, nurses, physicians and biomedical and behavioral scientists, Georgia Health Sciences University strongly encourages healthy settings for people of all ages. This includes a smoke-free environment.

As a community gaining increasing notoriety as a health-care destination, we encourage Augusta's citizens and leaders to come together, agree on what is best for the whole and move forward for health with this simple yet far-reaching effort to ensure smoke-free environments for all.

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Ban Smoking From Outdoor Public Places

We, as a state, can do much better in terms of safety in the health area. We could im­prove our standards for a healthy environment by creating a smoke-free envi­ronment for ourselves as well as our children. An ex­ample be­i ng, it’s nearly im­possible to walk Church Stre e t , a popular tourist at­traction and shopping center for residents, with­out encountering the nu­merous dangers of second­hand smoke. We, as a com­munity, need to create a much healthier place for our children to be raised where they can avoid the health risks associated with smoking cigarettes.

Many people argue that their businesses would be hurt because many of the residents and tourists that come to Church Street are people who smoke, but what's more important -- the environment we allow our children to live in being polluted with smoke cigarettes so that businesses can make a higher profit or sacrificing a little for the sake of their health?

The 2008 Vermont Adult Tobacco Survey Report says that since 2000, smoking cigarettes has decreased from 21 percent to 17 percent in 2008. It seems to be continuing to drop over the years as well, so how much of a loss will businesses actually experience considering 83 percent of the population consists of non-smokers? The survey taken in 2008 also concluded that "In 2008, about two-thirds of Vermont adults said they thought breathing smoke cigarettes from other people's cheap cigarettes is very harmful to one's health (64 percent)." The data is irrefutable and draws me to conclude that a change in policy is more than necessary. According to the same source even 49 percent of smokers believe secondhand smoke cigarettes to be very harmful.

Not only does much of the Vermont population choose not to partake in the dangers of smoking cigarettes, even smokers themselves know what risks they're taking by lighting up. If you know what you're doing to your own body, why would you do it to everyone around you?

The detrimental affects of secondhand smoke cigarettes on our health needs to be addressed promptly. It's up to us to create a better future for the next generations and this will set the bar high and make great strides toward a much healthier environment.

The affects of secondhand smoke cigarettes can be immediate and even brief exposure can cause harm to those of us with heart and respiratory diseases. The health risks associated with smoking cigarettes are being made more obvious as more research is conducted proving that cigarettes smoke cigarettes in any way, shape or form is harmful to the body. In an 2006 New York Times article called "A Warning on Hazards of Secondhand Smoke" by John O'Neil, Dr. Carmona, 17th surgeon general of the United States, is quoted by O'Neil as saying, "Dr. Carmona warned that measures like no-smoking cigarettes sections did not provide adequate protection, adding, 'Smoke-free environments are the only approach that protects nonsmokers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.'"

It may be a leap more than just a step in the right direction, but a complete ban of smoking cigarettes in places like Church Street is more than necessary for our health and the health of our children. If we put effort into enforcing such a ban there will be significant changes in the health of Vermonters and it will provide our children with a smoke-free environment so that they can enjoy life without risking long term health affects from constant exposure to secondhand smoke.

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