At 7 pm on Monday, July 23, Charleston, South Carolina became a smoke-free city, following Louisville, Kentucky (which went smoke-free on July 1). Both cities have a significant history with the tobacco industry and both are now smoke-free. Both ordinances faced strong opposition from Big Tobacco, but in both cases consideration for the health of the community prevailed.
It is encouraging to think that it is still possible for the rights of working people to be put ahead of the profit concerns of Big Tobacco. Wisconsin's own smoke-free air bill, SB 150, puts the rights of all workers first - including bar and restaurant workers. As we get closer and closer to a vote on this important bill, I hope for the health of our state we can be as brave as Charleston and Louisville and not cave under tobacco industry pressure. Congrats to both cities!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Smoke-Free Policies in Tobacco Country!
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1 comment:
This sounds great news.
The UK recently went smoke free in all public places, workplaces, restaurants and bars - and it has made a fantastic difference to the usability of those spaces.
I'm really hopeful that as a result we're going to see some gain in terms of lower youth smoking rates and better health impacts...
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