Dane County votes for smoke-free ordinance for unincorporatd towns

On a 21-14 vote, the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted for a smoke-free ordinance that covers all restaurants, bars, and workplaces.  This is the first time a county in Wisconsin has passed a strong smoke-free workplace policy (La Crosse County passed an ordinance a few years ago that covers some restaurants).

Bars and restaurants in Dane County's towns will be covered by the ordinance, but cities and villages that don't already have a policy in place are not under the county's regulatory authority.

Congratulations Dane County, and hopefully Dane County's cities and villages will also begin or continue their own public conversations about smoke-free policy.

The Cost of Smoking

MSN Money wrote a recent article about the costs incurred by smoking. Click here to read the article. Take a look at some of the ways that smoking can hurt personal finances and people's jobs:

Costs to an Individual smoker:

• A pack-a-day smoker spends about $31.43 per week on cigarettes, or $1,635 per year
  
• Life Insurance for a nonsmoker is between $570 to $1,035 in premiums per year but as much as $4,250 for a pack-a-day smoker
  
• Non-smokers will receive at least a 10% discount when shopping for homeowners insurance.
  
• If 40-year-old quits smoking today and puts the savings into a 401(k) earning 9% a year, he or she would have accumulate almost $250,000 by age 70!!
  

Costs to all of us:

• 5% of employers prefer to hire nonsmokers and 1% do not hire smokers at all
  
• 5% of companies charge smokers more for health-care premiums
  
• Smokers cost the economy $97.6 billion a year in lost productivity due to premature death, as well as an additional $96.7 billion on public and private health care combined
  
• Every American household spends $630 a year in federal and state taxes because of smoking
  

Quitting smoking is not just good for health, but it's good for the checkbook too!

Pay for Play Politics - How Big Tobacco is Influencing WI Politicians

The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign just released some interesting findings about one Wisconsin legislator's $7500 day this Feb. 16. Read their post here to see how Big Tobacco is dumping money into our state to influence legislation!

http://www.wisdc.org/pr091608.php

China’s addiction to nicotine? Staggering—Beijing’s smoke-free Olympics? Admirable

Since Beijing hosted the 2008 summer Olympics, you’ve probably heard quite a bit about the world’s largest country; but here’s something you might not know. Check out China’s addiction to nicotine:

• 350 million smokers
• Six in 10 men smoke regularly
• 1,000,000 people die of smoking-related diseases every year

Yet even China- addicted to cigarettes like no other country on Earth- has passed a smoke-free law for public spaces. On May 30, the health ministry announced the entire Olympic games and Beijing, China's Capitol city, would be smoke-free. Beijing’s residents, Olympic athletes, spectators, and officials from all over the world all breathed easier this summer.

Thanks to some forward thinking by Chinese health officials, the only smoke at the Olympic games came off the sprinters' shoes.

A Clean Bill of Public Health

If you've been keyed into the exciting news in Pennsylvania, you will notice the air is finally being cleared in PA. That's right Pennsylvania is the most recent state to enact a smoke-free law. Some of the links below feature stories on this important piece of legislation.

Article from WPXI

Article from NBC10


What you will see in these articles is that the statewide law is complex and to some confusing. The law, while moving towards protecting all workers from the dangers of second-hand smoke- will NOT protect all workers. People will not be fully protected in all public places. It is exemptions like the ones in the PA law that creates a situation where people do not know where they are protected and where they are not. Its time for ALL hospitality workers to be protected from secondhand smoke. Strong smoke free laws are easier to enforce and create equity among all workplaces and public places.
Wisconsin needs a clean bill of public health, that means a need for a strong statewide smoke free law! No exemptions, no delays!