Society and its partners will gather signatures to put a strong smoke-free law before the Ohio General Assembly and then Ohio voters in 2006.
Columbus — March 10, 2005: Today, the American Cancer Society launches a campaign called SmokeFreeOhio.org to let Ohio voters decide to make the state smoke-free in 2006.
"Right now, the American Cancer Society is working to change Ohio’s future. We are asking for your help to make Ohio smoke-free! Help stop Ohioans from dying from secondhand smoke. Help protect every Ohio worker and customer," said Don McClure, Chief Executive Officer of the Ohio Division of the American Cancer Society. "We support a state law that states one simple fact: you have a right to breathe clean air."
Secondhand smoke contains more than 40 carcinogens, causing 3,000 deadly cases of lung cancer in nonsmokers each year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says there is no safe level of exposure. Secondhand smoke is a leading cause of preventable death, killing 53,000 nonsmoking Americans each year through heart disease, lung cancer, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Secondhand smoke can trigger heart attacks and asthma attacks in nonsmokers exposed to it. After a study published in the British Medical Journal showed that heart attack rates in Helena, Montana, dropped 40 percent after a clean indoor air was passed, and returned to previous levels after the law was overturned, the Centers for Disease Control recommended all patients with heart disease avoid all buildings where smoking is permitted.
"Picture a future where children born today will never remember a time in their lives when people lit up a cigarette in a restaurant or a bowling alley," said Tracy Sabetta, Director of Tobacco-Free Ohio. "They’ll never remember a time when they were exposed to the dangers of secondhand smoke at work, at dinner, or in any public places."
Seven states are smoke-free. Fourteen Ohio cities passed smoke-free laws to protect all workers and customers from secondhand smoke: Bexley, Bowling Green, Centerville, Columbus, Dublin, Granville, Grandview Heights, Heath, Marble Cliff, Powell, Toledo, Upper Arlington, Wauseon, and Worthington. The American Cancer Society believes the time is right to protect all Ohioans with one strong state law that will provide a uniform standard to protect every citizen and worker in Ohio.
Diane Butler-Hughes, a former Dayton waitress and cancer patient, is thrilled to join this statewide campaign. She believes all workers, including those in bars and restaurants, deserve to be protected from secondhand smoke. For Butler-Hughes, this is a personal fight. Six years ago, Butler-Hughes lost a friend to cancer. Audrey was a mother of four and a fellow waitress who was exposed to secondhand smoke for years.
Butler-Hughes herself was diagnosed with cancer. The treatment that saved her life cost her the chance to have children. After years in remission, her cancer returned and she is currently fighting it. Butler-Hughes is a nonsmoker who was exposed to secondhand smoke five days a week for 17 years as a waitress, from her first job until she put herself through college. Butler-Hughes no longer works as a waitress, but to protect her health as she fights her disease, she can no longer go to restaurants, bars or other places where she is exposed to secondhand smoke.
"When smokers light up in public places, they take away my right to breathe clean air," Butler-Hughes said. "I was a restaurant employee. It is too late to protect me from the hazards of secondhand smoke. But we now have the opportunity to protect families and to save the health of others who are working in restaurants today."
At the announcement at the Ohio Tobacco Control Conference, the audience also heard the story of Diane Jones of Cleveland. Jones lost her best friend, Sherry, a nonsmoking bartender and waitress, to lung cancer. Sherry died at age 50, leaving her children behind. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say waitresses exposed to secondhand smoke are 34 percent more likely to develop lung cancer.
The American Cancer Society is recruiting volunteers to gather 100,000 signatures of registered Ohio voters. They will start on the day of the primary, May 3, 2005. They will collect signatures through November 2005, and submit them to the Secretary of State to put the smoke-free ordinance before the Ohio General Assembly in January 2006.
If the Ohio General Assembly does not take action, or tries to amend the law, the American Cancer Society and its partners will collect another 100,000 signatures to put the ordinance before all Ohio voters in November 2006.
The American Cancer Society announces the start of the SmokeFreeOhio.org campaign jointly with the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Association of Ohio Health Commissioners.
For more information, contact:
Official website of SmokeFreeOhio, Richard Filler, Treasurer, 5555 Frantz Road, Dublin, OH 43017
Copyright © 2005-2009 SmokeFreeOhio | Site Map | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Accessibility
