The Legislature is considering very important legislation that affects the health of all Alabamians, SB372, a bill that will make all Alabama workplaces smoke-free. My husband was an Air Force pilot who flew the KC-135 throughout his career. He would come home from flights with the stench of tobacco covering him until the U.S. Air Force said enough and made aircraft, and eventually the Air Force, smoke-free. People cannot control the atmosphere of their workplace any more than my husband could control the air in his cockpit. It takes strong leadership to protect non-smokers. Let’s unders ... Jump to full article >>

The latest skirmish in the battle to ban smoking in Nevada casinos is emerging around a little-discussed area of law more commonly associated with wheelchair ramps and handicap-accessible restrooms. Alongside requirements that public buildings and workplaces be accessible to people with visible handicaps, the 20-year-old Americans with Disabilities Act offers similar protection for people with breathing problems such as asthma and a list of medical conditions exacerbated by secondhand smoke, such as hypertension. In the years before smoking bans became widespread, some courts sided with plaint ... Jump to full article >>

High school students and adults working together are using tobacco settlement funds to try to make the Florida Keys tobacco free. Coral Shores High School junior Camie Lopez took one look at the jar displayed by SWAT – Students Working Against Tobacco – and blurted: “Oh, gross.” The jar’s gooey contents represented the amount of tar buildup in the lungs of someone who smokes a half-pack of cigarettes a day for one year. It was next to “Clem’s Phlegm,” another jar filled with the amount of thick mucus a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease would cough up in two wee ... Jump to full article >>

They’re not cigarettes, but they’re are close enough to catch the attention of Clark County Public Health. E-cigarettes often look like normal cigarettes, but rather than burning tobacco, smokers puff on vaporized nicotine solutions. They’re battery-powered and have a red LED at the end that mimics the burning tip of the real thing. Health department leaders briefed the Clark County commissioners, who also act as the county’s Board of Health, on the issue and proposed adopting an ordinance that would ban sale of the devices to people younger than 18. [caption id="attach ... Jump to full article >>

We are a group of 10- to 16-year-olds from Greater New Hope Church in Indianapolis. We belong to the VOICE movement, which is Indiana’s youth-led movement against Big Tobacco targeting their products to us. Today is Kick Butts Day, a national day of activism that empowers youth to take action against Big Tobacco. Big Tobacco doesn’t want us to think secondhand smoke is a problem. We’ve been working with our adult allies and we know secondhand smoke is a big problem. We are writing to show our support for a smoke-free air law that protects everyone, such as the first version o ... Jump to full article >>

The mother of a casino employee who died of cancer last year has filed a class action lawsuit against the owners of Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, alleging that secondhand smoke killed her son and exposed other employees to health risks. The secondhand smoke lawsuit was filed earlier this month against Caesars Entertainment Corp. by Denise Bevrotte, the mother of Maceo Bevrotte Jr., who died of cancer on March 9, 2010. According to allegations raised in the complaint, Maceo Bevroette Jr.’s cancer was caused by inhaling the casino’s smoke-filled air for about 15 years, even though he did n ... Jump to full article >>

Illinois lawmakers played the charade for a while that all indoor workers in the state should be protected by a smoking ban. Now, however, lawmakers are starting to change their tune, recommending that casino workers be put back at risk for the dangers of secondhand smoke. Two new bills have passed by a House Committee on Wednesday, and both are aimed at ensuring that casinos can offer smoking in their establishments in the near future. The first bill would allow individual areas to hand out smoking licenses, and the other would allow casinos to offer smoking indoors. The second of the proposa ... Jump to full article >>

Businesses could potentially save $100 billion annually in productivity alone if cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke were eliminated. While that level of savings is an optimal goal, curbing smoking in the workplace and educating employees on the dangers of and ways to quit could have a significant impact on the bottom line, according to an official with the Midwest Business Group on Health. The organization is one of 30 that received grants from the Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project, part of a program developing citywide policy strategies designed to decrease tobacco use and exposure to se ... Jump to full article >>

A lot of people think that occasional cigarettes won’t hurt, but even a little bit of social smoking or breathing in someone else’s secondhand smoke might be enough to occlude arteries and cause a heart attack, according to a report presented by the surgeon general. Lung cancer is probably a disease that people usually are afraid of. Surgeon general’s report states that it was proved that tobacco smoke starts poisoning straightway, more than 7000 harmful chemicals in each puff quickly spread through the body thus affecting almost every organ. “Namely that one puff of cigarette m ... Jump to full article >>

In a single stroke this week, Mayor Francis Slay undid the work of generations of tobacco industry lobbyists and executives. He announced that Lambert-St. Louis International Airport will go smoke-free. Beginning on Jan. 2, five glass-enclosed smoking lounges at the airport, built in response to behind-the-scenes pressure from the tobacco industry, will be closed. That same day, smoking no longer will be allowed in most public places in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The vast majority of citizens who do not smoke finally will gain the right to breathe clean indoor air. Just by coincidence, Mr ... Jump to full article >>

The U.S. Surgeon General’s report released today provides dramatic new evidence that smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke cause immediate harm to the human body, triggering physical changes that lead to cancer, heart attacks, lung disease and many other serious illnesses, including damage to the reproductive systems of both men and women. The report also concludes that design changes to cigarettes, such as filter ventilation, flavoring agents and added chemical ingredients, have over time made them more addictive. Today’s cigarettes deliver nicotine more efficiently to the brai ... Jump to full article >>