The science is clear: secondhand smoke is more than just a
nuisance. Exposure to the toxins in tobacco smoke has been shown
to cause cancer, heart disease and many other negative health effects.
According to the West Virginia Division of Tobacco
Prevention's
2007 Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet,
310 to 550 West Virginians die each year from other people's smoke.
Monongalia County was the first to pass a clean indoor air
regulation, but it has not been updated in many years. We
now have a much clearer understanding of the risks and costs associated
with tobacco smoke and the benefits of clean air regulations. Our
current regulation allows significant exposure to occur in workplaces and even many public areas of the county.
Monongalia County is one of only eight counties in
West
Virginia that do not prohibit smoking in
workplaces. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that "smoke-free workplace policies are the
only effective way
to ensure that secondhand smoke exposure does not occur in the
workplace. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and
ventilating buildings cannot eliminate exposures of nonsmokers to
secondhand smoke."
Our current regulation has ventilation provisions that expose the
public to tobacco smoke in restaurants and other
facilities. Scientific studies have debunked the
ventilation myth.
Ventilation systems simply cannot remove the harmful substances that
smoking puts into the air. Even negative air pressure rooms have
been found ineffective. Smoking rooms have been found to
concentrate the pollution, thereby increasing exposure of employees who
must enter them.
The current regulation allows smoking in bars without exception.
Bar patrons and employees in Monongalia County are exposed
to the highest levels of tobacco smoke. While it may be said
that patrons 'choose' to enter a bar, for bar workers, tobacco smoke is
an occupational hazard. They must be afforded the same
protections as other workers. Even though some bar owners will
claim that prohibiting smoking in bars will put them out of business,
study after study has shown this is simply not true.
Going smoke-free does not hurt business and may even increase revenues.
Please
show your support and
get involved
in helping to bring about this needed change. The opposition will
be vocal, so clean indoor air supporters must not remain the silent
majority. It is time to clear the air in Monongalia County.
