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Secondhand smoke debate 'over'
Updated 6/27/2006 11:28 PM ET
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Never mind the non-smoking sections or even good ventilation systems in bars, restaurants or offices. Secondhand smoke is a health hazard at any level, a new report from the U.S. surgeon general says.
The 700-page report cites "massive and conclusive scientific evidence" of the "alarming" public health threat posed by secondhand smoke and finds smoking bans are the only way to protect non-smokers.
"The debate is over," Surgeon General Richard Carmona said in issuing the report Tuesday. "The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard."
Although many states and hundreds of cities have passed smoke-free laws, more than 126 million Americans ages 3 and older continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke, according to the report. Nearly 50,000 non-smokers die from secondhand smoke each year.
Carmona said non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of heart disease and cancer by up to 30%. Even brief exposure to smoke damages cells, beginning a process that can lead to cancer, and increases the risk of blood clots, which can cause heart attacks and strokes.
The report expands on the landmark 1986 report from Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the first to conclude that secondhand smoke causes disease.
Carmona also urged parents not to smoke around children, noting that many children are exposed in the home. He stopped short of calling for specific legislation or other government regulation to restrict indoor smoking, noting that his role was simply to provide accurate information. "The strength of this movement is in the communities," Carmona said.
Anti-tobacco activists said the report is a blueprint for future action. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said all states and communities should immediately ban smoking in all workplaces: "Anything else leaves Americans' health at risk."
The report does provide strong support for smoke-free laws. Contrary to tobacco industry-financed studies, smoke-free policies do not hurt business for bars, restaurants and other venues, the report concludes. The report strongly criticizes the tobacco industry for financing biased studies to undermine carefully conducted, peer-reviewed research on the economic effects of smoking bans in an effort to "sustain controversy even as the scientific community reached consensus."
Bars and restaurants should be allowed to decide on the policies that best suit their clients, said David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. "Adults should be able to patronize establishments that permit smoking if they choose to do so," he says. "People who don't want to work around it don't have to work at that establishment."
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco does not dispute the science in the surgeon general's report, Howard said.
The report notes that bartenders, waiters and waitresses are exposed to some of the highest levels of secondhand smoke, putting them at greater risk of disease. "No employee should be forced to choose between making a living and increasing the risk of heart disease and lung disease," Myers said. "No employer should be allowed to place their employees at risk."
Thanks to smoke-free air laws, fewer Americans today are exposed to secondhand smoke, the report says. Yet more than 40% of non-smoking adults and nearly 60% of children ages 3 to 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Because children's lungs are still developing, children exposed to smoke have twice the level of a nicotine byproduct in their blood as adult non-smokers.
Updated 6/27/2006 11:28 PM ET
By Liz Szabo, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Never mind the non-smoking sections or even good ventilation systems in bars, restaurants or offices. Secondhand smoke is a health hazard at any level, a new report from the U.S. surgeon general says.
The 700-page report cites "massive and conclusive scientific evidence" of the "alarming" public health threat posed by secondhand smoke and finds smoking bans are the only way to protect non-smokers.
"The debate is over," Surgeon General Richard Carmona said in issuing the report Tuesday. "The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard."
Although many states and hundreds of cities have passed smoke-free laws, more than 126 million Americans ages 3 and older continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke, according to the report. Nearly 50,000 non-smokers die from secondhand smoke each year.
Carmona said non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their risk of heart disease and cancer by up to 30%. Even brief exposure to smoke damages cells, beginning a process that can lead to cancer, and increases the risk of blood clots, which can cause heart attacks and strokes.
The report expands on the landmark 1986 report from Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the first to conclude that secondhand smoke causes disease.
Carmona also urged parents not to smoke around children, noting that many children are exposed in the home. He stopped short of calling for specific legislation or other government regulation to restrict indoor smoking, noting that his role was simply to provide accurate information. "The strength of this movement is in the communities," Carmona said.
Anti-tobacco activists said the report is a blueprint for future action. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said all states and communities should immediately ban smoking in all workplaces: "Anything else leaves Americans' health at risk."
The report does provide strong support for smoke-free laws. Contrary to tobacco industry-financed studies, smoke-free policies do not hurt business for bars, restaurants and other venues, the report concludes. The report strongly criticizes the tobacco industry for financing biased studies to undermine carefully conducted, peer-reviewed research on the economic effects of smoking bans in an effort to "sustain controversy even as the scientific community reached consensus."
Bars and restaurants should be allowed to decide on the policies that best suit their clients, said David Howard, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. "Adults should be able to patronize establishments that permit smoking if they choose to do so," he says. "People who don't want to work around it don't have to work at that establishment."
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco does not dispute the science in the surgeon general's report, Howard said.
The report notes that bartenders, waiters and waitresses are exposed to some of the highest levels of secondhand smoke, putting them at greater risk of disease. "No employee should be forced to choose between making a living and increasing the risk of heart disease and lung disease," Myers said. "No employer should be allowed to place their employees at risk."
Thanks to smoke-free air laws, fewer Americans today are exposed to secondhand smoke, the report says. Yet more than 40% of non-smoking adults and nearly 60% of children ages 3 to 11 are exposed to secondhand smoke.
Because children's lungs are still developing, children exposed to smoke have twice the level of a nicotine byproduct in their blood as adult non-smokers.