A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office of Smoking and Health report indicates that there have been slow gains in protecting U.S. citizens from secondhand smoke at workplaces and public venues.
The report analyzes how many state and local smoke-free air laws have been approved from 2010 through 2016. For these dates, just 27 states as well as the District of Columbia have passed laws for smoke-free air, particularly in restaurants and bars. Another 14 states that don’t have statewide laws have also approved of several local ordinances. Nine remaining states don’t allow local ordinances, providing no protection from secondhand smoke.
“The reality that so many Americans continue to be exposed to the proven, cancer-causing dangers of secondhand smoke while at work is alarming,” an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) representative said. “There is no reason anyone should have to choose between their health and their paycheck.”
ACS CAN maintains that the slow progress for eliminating secondhand smoke is a major health concern for U.S. citizens.
“ACS CAN will continue to work with state and local lawmakers to pass strong, smoke-free air laws that protect all workers — no matter where they work — from the significant health effects of secondhand smoke,” the representative said. “Progress on both the state and local level must continue if we are going to reduce our country’s tobacco burden and save lives from tobacco-related cancer.”
