Smoke Free MMS

Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services

· “… involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke remains a serious public health hazard that can be prevented by making homes, workplaces, and public places completely smoke-free.”

· “Smoke-free environments are the most effective method for reducing exposures.”

Julie Louise Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Administrator, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

· “Research reviewed in this report indicates that smoke-free policies are the most economic and effective approach for providing protection from exposure to secondhand smoke … Separating smokers and nonsmokers in the same airspace is not effective, nor is air cleaning or a greater exchange of indoor with outdoor air. Additionally, having separately ventilated areas for smoking may not offer a satisfactory solution to reduce workplace exposures.”

Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S., Surgeon General

· “Today, massive and conclusive scientific evidence documents adverse effects of involuntary smoking on children and adults, including cancer and cardiovascular diseases in adults, and adverse respiratory effects in both children and adults.”

· “…exposure to secondhand smoke remains an alarming public health hazard.”

· “Restrictions on smoking can control exposures effectively, but technical approaches involving air cleaning or greater exchange of indoor with outdoor air cannot. Consequently, nonsmokers need protection through the restriction of smoking in public places and workplaces and by a voluntary adherence to policies at home, particularly to eliminate exposures of children.”

· “The large body of evidence documenting that secondhand smoke exposures produce substantial and immediate effects on the cardiovascular system indicates that even brief exposures could pose significant acute risks to older adults or to others at high risk for cardiovascular disease.”