Smoke Free Laws

Everyone Deserves to Breathe Smoke Free Indoor Air.

Smoke Free is Good for Health

• Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in America.
• Secondhand smoke causes cancer, stroke, heart disease, SIDS and asthma. It is especially harmful to children.
• There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. People who spend just 30 minutes in a smoke-filled room have a measurable decrease in oxygen delivered to their heart.
• Smoke-free laws have led to a decrease in tobacco-caused cancers. In California, lung cancer fell 19.5 % since smoke-free legislation was enacted.

Smoke Free is Good for Business

• Clean indoor air ordinances reduce medical costs and lost work time due to secondhand smoke-related illnesses. In fact, many cities have experienced significant economic gains.
• "The city's recent smoking ban, far from curbing restaurant traffic, has given it a major lift." (Zagat's Annual Survey of NYC, 2004)
• A glowing endorsement from the President of New York State Restaurant Association stated, "...that smoking bans are GOOD for business."
• Recent economic studies of smoke-free laws from New York City, El Paso, Florida, Massachusetts and dozens of others have shown no negative business impact.

Communities Recognize the Benefit of Smoke-Free Legislation 

• Health and economic evidence has spurred the growing, bipartisan momentum across the country to protect the public's right to breathe clean air.
• Various states including- California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island - have enacted comprehensive, statewide smoke-free laws. Even states with convention business, like Florida, have passed statewide smoke-free laws.
• Ireland, Scotland, Spain, England and Italy are just a few of the countries that have gone smoke-free.
• Regionally, Wilmette, Deerfield, Highland Park, Elk Grove Village, Park Ridge, Skokie, Madison and Minneapolis have enacted strong smoke-free ordinances.

For more information please contact Matt Maloney.