Medical Evidence Supports Ban

 

Thank you for your wisely written editorial calling for a statewide smoke-free law on Kentucky.com.

As you mentioned, Kentucky has the nation's highest smoking and lung cancer rates, and to reduce these statistics the General Assembly needs to pass a statewide smoke-free law that improves both our state's health and economy.

Secondhand smoke contains carcinogens and other toxins that not only harm smokers, but also everyone around them.

Medical evidence is now clear that secondhand smoke contributes to lung cancer, heart disease, asthma and COPD.

Strong smoke-free laws that cover all workplaces, including restaurants and bars, are the only effective way to protect employees and the public from this serious health hazard.

Smoking-related illnesses contribute to increased health care costs for individuals, companies, and society.

In fact, the Mayo Clinic and other groups have shown that communities which have become smoke-free experience significant drops in their rates of heart attacks in just the following year.

Shouldn't all of Kentucky enjoy the same health and economic benefits as Lexington and other smoke-free communities?

Reps. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, and Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, sponsored legislation to do that.

When the Kentucky legislature convenes to consider the statewide smoke-free law, let's help it make the right choice.

If they hear from enough of their constituents, they will. Please call your state representative and state senator at 800-372-7181 and tell them it's time for a smoke-free Kentucky.

Dr. Sylvia Cerel-Suhl
President, Board of the American Heart Association, Central Kentucky

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2013/02/24/2529355/letters-to-editorsmoking-ban-feb.html#storylink=cpy

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