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Senate Bill 118 - RCJ
Before you begin reading this article,
I want you to take a deep breath and hold it until you are
finished.
Are you aware of a law that prohibits
spitting in public places? In the late 1800’s, our state
legislators passed a bill banning this nasty behavior in
order to control the spread of Mycobacterium tuberculosis,
the chief organism responsible for the spread of
tuberculosis.
Today marks the first day of a new law
protecting our citizens from another public health
hazard----second hand smoke. Senate Bill 118 was passed this
past legislative session, prohibiting smoking in any
enclosed workplace or public place. It does not effect
facilities that serve alcohol, or have a gaming license or
provide video lottery. (Are you still holding your breath?)
What is second hand smoke (also termed
environmental tobacco smoke or ETS)? First, it is composed
of the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker, and the second
component is the smoke that drifts from the burning end of a
lit cigarette. This side stream smoke contains higher
concentrations of tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide, as
well as other chemicals that cause cancer than the smoke
inhaled by smokers.
More than 4,000 chemicals, including at
least 50 cancer causing agents are found in ETS. But cancer
is only one of the potential health hazards. Some of the
immediate effects include eye irritation, headache, cough,
sore throat, dizziness and nausea. (Are you feeling anxious,
light headed or turning blue yet?)
Asthma patients can experience a
significant decline in their lung function when exposed to
second hand smoke. (If you have followed my instructions
from the beginning of this article, you will begin to feel
“starved of air”, and very anxious to breathe. This is
exactly what an asthma attack feels like).
This bill is designed to protect those
patients with lung disabilities such as asthma. For example,
an asthma patient of mine was hospitalized due to a decline
in her lung function when exposed to second hand smoke. She
sat in the “so called” no smoking section of a restaurant
here in Rapid City. She was hospitalized for several days
at the Rapid City Regional Hospital, resulting in more than
$15,000 to care for her.
Second hand smoke not only causes
people with asthma to feel starved of air, physicians will
see up to 300,000 cases of bronchitis or pneumonia resulting
in 15,000 hospitalizations. Pediatricians will treat over
three million middle ear infections in children as a result
of parents who smoke. Children are more vulnerable to the
effects of second hand smoke than adults are. When children
breathe, they inhale a greater quantity of air relative to
their body size.
The health effect of exposure to ETS on
adult nonsmokers is just as significant. Second hand smoke
will put approximately 60,000 adults in their graves each
year due to heart disease; 3,000 people will die from lung
cancer; and additional 12,000 deaths will be due to other
tobacco related cancers such as bladder, esophageal or
cancers of the oral cavity.
The fact is that secondhand smoke is
the third leading cause of preventable death in the United
States. Even if you have never smoked a cigarette in your
life, you are more likely to die from exposure to tobacco
smoke than you are to die in a car accident or from AIDS or
from a violent crime.
How do we reduce our exposure to second
hand smoke?
If you smoke, QUIT! (Easier said than
done.) If you chose to smoke, smoke outdoors whenever
possible and definitely do not smoke around your child.
SB 118 will provide a smoke free
environment in the work place for many South Dakotans and
employers will soon realize the benefits of going smoke
free. Employees who are exposed to second hand smoke get
sick more frequently. Having an effective smoking policy
will cut down on sick time, thus increasing
productivity. Additionally, health care costs to the company
may be reduced, as well as maintenance and cleaning cost.
The tobacco industry’s own research has
also proven that when a company has a smoke-free policy,
smokers are more likely to quit and others will reduce the
number of cigarettes they smoke in a day.
Unfortunately, this bill does not
protect employees of the alcohol or gaming industry. The
levels of second hand smoke in bars are four to six times
higher than in the homes of people who smoke. Not
surprising, therefore, that these workers have about a 50
percent greater risk of lung cancer than nonsmokers.
This bill is just one small step in
protecting our citizens in the workplace. It is; however,
one giant leap in public awareness on the dangers of second
hand smoke. This issue is not about the right to
smoke---rather, it’s about the right to breathe clean air.
On behalf of my patients and all those effected by second
hand smoke, I would like to thank Sen. Royal McCracken,
Rapid City for sponsoring SB118. I would especially like to
thank the American Cancer Society and the South Dakota
Tobacco Free Kids Network for their grass-roots effort on
the passage of this bill.Content
of articles can only be used with writer attribution to Dr.
Kevin Weiland.
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