February 2007 | Back to Table of Contents

Viewpoint

Nail the Coffin on "Coffin Nails"

The latest Surgeon General’s report on secondhand smoke should nail the coffin on “coffin nails.” It concluded that smoke-free workplace policies are the only effective way to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace. How can any serious lawmaker oppose a ban on smoking in public places?

More than 3,000 nonsmokers die annually in the United States from lung cancer and 46,000 more from heart disease caused by secondhand tobacco smoke. Many of those individuals were initially exposed in the workplace. Workers exposed to secondhand smoke have double the rate of heart attacks of those who do not breathe it. Other illnesses caused or made worse by tobacco smoke include emphysema, asthma, throat cancer, and on and on. Bar and restaurant employees are at especially high risk of smoke exposure. One out of five is a teenager, and 56 percent are women, mostly younger women who may become pregnant and put their fetus at risk by breathing secondhand smoke.

In January 1993, the Environmental Protection Agency declared secondhand smoke a human carcinogen and classified it as an environmental toxin equivalent to asbestos. I wonder what the effect on smoking would be if employees in establishments that allow smoking were required to use the same safety equipment as asbestos workers.

Interestingly, when smoking is banned in workplaces, the rate of illness drops not just for nonsmokers but also for employees who smoke. In experiments performed by Philip Morris in a secret German laboratory and made public years later during a tobacco trial, “sidestream” smoke, the kind that comes out of the lit end of a cigarette, is two to four times as toxic as the “mainstream” smoke that smokers exhale. And after it lingers in the air for a time, it becomes about 12 times as toxic. This supertoxic smoke adheres to walls, furniture, and clothes and is later re-released into the air to continue its deadly work. Enclosed smoking areas are death traps for employees and customers alike.

The tobacco industry and its stooges talk about American liberty and call working in a smoky environment a matter of free choice (while they hide the evidence that would allow an informed choice). A mother told me recently that her college-student daughter had been hired as a waitress at a local restaurant, the best-paying part-time job available, and how happy she was that Rochester restaurants were smoke-free. When the daughter came home from work, she smelled like an ash tray. New employees were asked to work in the bar, where patrons still smoke. Apparently, there weren’t many volunteers.

The tobacco industry also sheds crocodile tears over the fate of poor bar and restaurant owners who they pretend will be hurt by not killing their customers and employees. This despite studies in multiple cities and states showing no negative effect on, or even increases in, business after implementing smoking bans. Since Rochester’s ban on smoking in restaurants took effect, there has been a gain of 57 nonsmoking restaurants and a loss of four bar/restaurants where smoking was allowed. The national commander of the VFW recently stated that allowing smoking in VFW facilities is hurting efforts to recruit new members and that it’s time to rethink their policies.

The tobacco barons ignore the effects on other businesses. Tobacco is the No. 1 cause of preventable illness. Secondhand smoke raises health care costs for all businesses that provide health insurance to their employees (bars and restaurants typically don’t) and causes losses in productivity due to illness and death. The only business for which smoking is good is the tobacco business.

This is the year for a Minnesotawide ban on smoking in all public places. If your legislators support it, please thank them. If not, inundate them with phone calls and
e-mails detailing the facts. There is no excuse for anything less than unanimous passage!