Smoke-Free Oklahoma gains positive coverage from the Oklahoman

The campaign to eliminate smoking in all workplaces has received another positive push this morning from Oklahoma's largest newspaper. The Oklahoman Editorial Board published a positive editorial this morning regarding the most recent push from the Oklahoma Municipal League to pass legislation that would allow cities to make the decisions when it comes to smoking in public.

You can read that editorial below. 

Latest anti-smoking push not likely to fail in Legislature

The Oklahoman Editorial

Published: December 1, 2010


The Oklahoma Municipal League asked this week for legislation that would allow cities and towns to set their own smoking bans, and there's little reason to think the effort will get scuttled during the 2011 session. Momentum for this change is strong and has been building for some time.

Health officials citing the dangers of secondhand smoke have long sought to make all restaurants in Oklahoma smoke free, even those that followed the law and invested in ventilation systems allowing for smoking and nonsmoking areas. A poll in March of this year showed 71 percent of Oklahomans favor eliminating all indoor smoking in public places, and more than half favor a statewide smoke-free law. There have at times been efforts to ban smoking in all public places, indoors or out.


Oklahoma is one of two states with pre-emption laws regarding tobacco where state tobacco law supersedes local laws. This means municipalities may not enact anti-smoking laws that are tougher than what's on the books at the state level.


The legislation sought by the Oklahoma Municipal League would change that. It has the backing of House Speaker-designate Kris Steele, R-Shawnee, who has been at the front of other health-related initiatives during his time at the Capitol.

Oklahoma is one of just three states where 25 percent of its residents smoke. This proposed change to state law seeks to reduce that number and leave Tennessee as the lone pre-emption state. Passage would surely do the latter; only time will tell if it would significantly affect the former.

Poll shows support for smoke-free law in Oklahoma

Yesterday the American Heart Association joined the Smoke Free Oklahoma coalition in annoucing the results of a promising new poll that shows that voters want Oklahoma to go 100% smoke free.

Read the story in today's Oklahoman by clicking on the link below.

Poll shows support for smoke-free law in Oklahoma

BY MICHAEL MCNUTT
The Oklahoman
March 24, 2010

Tobacco-free bill lights up Senate debate

The plan would allow fines on college campuses.

By BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
Published: 3/5/2010

OKLAHOMA CITY — Consideration of a bill to enforce tobacco-free polices on college campuses led to a debate Thursday on the Senate floor about personal freedoms, health care and abortion.

Sen. Jim Halligan, R-Stillwater, urged the Senate to pass Senate Bill 1674, which would allow colleges and universities to levy fines of up to $100 for those found in violation of tobacco-free policies.

The measure ultimately was approved by a 29-11 vote and sent on to the House after discussions turned to curtailing personal liberties and casting consistent votes when it came to issues such as abortion regulations.

Sen. Steven Russell, R-Oklahoma City, said SB 1674 curtailed what is currently a legal activity, noting that government continues to nibble away at personal freedoms.

Halligan called tobacco a "scourge on society."

Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, said the bill represented the hypocrisy brought to the Senate floor on a regular basis. "This is a bad bill," said Brogdon, who is running for governor. "Let's quit picking around the edges. If you want to ban tobacco, let's get rid of it."

Sen. Johnnie Crutchfield, D-Ardmore, said each generation will have fewer and fewer rights than their elders.

Sen. Andrew Rice, D-Oklahoma City, pointed out that a number of measures regulating abortion, a legal activity, will be heard. Those measures would require women seeking abortions to have ultrasounds and require information about a woman's abortion to be put on a public Web site, Rice said. The measure would not identify the woman.

"Let's be consistent about the invasion of privacy into the lives of Oklahomans," Rice said.

Sen. Tom Adelson, D-Tulsa, said although alcohol is legal, it is illegal to drink and drive. Innocent bystanders have no choice but to breathe secondhand smoke, he said.

"Smoke them if you've got them, but I don't want to breathe it," Adelson said.

Secondhand smoke is dangerous, said Sen. David Myers, R-Ponca City.

"We need to do something about the health of Oklahomans," Myers said, referring to low marks the state gets in several areas regarding health.

Sen. Debbe Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, said her husband died of lung cancer, but never smoked. Former Sen. Keith Leftwich, D-Oklahoma City, died in 2003. His wife was elected to his seat.

"I am for getting rid of smoking anywhere and everywhere," she said.

Halligan said no one should have the right to say "I want to smoke and you have to inhale it."

"When your rights impact my rights, when your rights impact my life," he said. "That is what secondhand smoke does.

Meanwhile, the House passed legislation that would allow educational institutions to designate their buildings and campuses tobacco-free. House Bill 2748 by Rep. Lee Denney, R-Cushing, also would allow institutions to enforce penalties for violations. It passed 81-11 and now heads to the Senate.

New Research on Secondhand Smoke Finds Significant Hazards

Media Contact: Diane Clay For Immediate Release
Email: diane-clay@ouhsc.edu Feb. 12, 2010
Phone: (405) 271-2323

New Research on Secondhand Smoke Finds Significant Hazards
Report focuses on Oklahomans in the workplace

OKLAHOMA CITY – New research by the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center (OTRC) shows that concentrations of secondhand tobacco smoke inhaled in smoking rooms of restaurants and bars are exceptionally high and hazardous to health.

According to the study, which appears in the center’s new report “Tobacco Smoke Pollution in Oklahoma Workplaces,” the average particulate level measured in restaurant smoking rooms was beyond the hazardous extreme based on levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The level found in bars was even worse.

“These levels are exceptionally high and not healthy for the employees and patrons exposed to particles found in secondhand smoke,” said Heather Basara, M.D., an industrial hygienist and lead investigator on the research.

Tobacco smoke levels were evaluated based on measurements of very fine suspended particulates in the air, particles smaller than 2.5 microns, which come primarily from tobacco smoke.

Levels averaged 380 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter of air) in the restaurant smoking rooms tested, and 655 µg/m3 in the bars. Restaurants with no smoking averaged just 26 µg/m3.

The EPA scale ranks outdoor levels of particulate pollution as “unhealthy” at 66-150, “very unhealthy”’ at 151-250, and “hazardous” at higher concentrations such as the levels found in the Oklahoma restaurant smoking rooms and bars tested for this report.

Robert McCaffree, M.D., Co-Director of OTRC, said, “Secondhand smoke exposure is a serious health hazard, accounting for approximately 700 deaths a year in Oklahoma, mostly from heart disease – including heart attacks – and lung cancer. Even brief exposure is harmful. Because this exposure is readily preventable, business owners and public policy makers would be well-advised to act as soon as possible to assure smokefree environments for all public places and all indoor workplaces.”

Particulates were monitored using a TSI Sidepak AM510 Personal Aerosol Monitor. Sixty-second average readings for at least 30 minutes were recorded in 67 indoor locations in central Oklahoma; following nationally recognized protocols established by the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. Time weighted averages were calculated for each of the locations. The full report is accessible at the OTRC Web site at www.ouhsc.edu/otrc/research/.
The Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center is part of the OU Cancer Institute at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. The mission of the OTRC is to reduce the burden of tobacco related health problems in Oklahoma by stimulating the generation and dissemination of knowledge and the implementation and diffusion of effective practices.

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A Human Health Issue

Yesterday, the Oklahoman published an op-ed written by Dr. Janet Spradlin on why Oklahoma needs to go smoke free.

Read it here. http://www.newsok.com/article/3436602?searched=spradlin&custom_click=search

Restaurant Owners are Starting to Support Smoke Free Oklahoma

http://www.okcfox.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/kokh_vid_994.shtml

Last night Fox 25 in Oklahoma City ran a story about the effort in Oklahoma to make our state 100% smoke free. The American Heart Association has been working with other health organizations across the state to push HB 2343 which would protect all Oklahoma workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Smoke-free laws in Oklahoma

Carter Headrick, State Advocacy Consultant, with the American Heart Association recently visited with several Oklahoma lawmakers about smoke-free legislation and what Oklahoma can expect when passing Smoke-Free laws.

Currently, SB1036 by Senator Myers is awaiting a House committee hearing and would create a taskforce to study making all Oklahoma bars and restaurants 100% smoke-free.

Here is a link to a short clip from his talk.