FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tompkins County Health Department
July 10, 2006
Contact:
Ted Schiele, 607-274-6712, tschiele@tompkins-co.org
Theresa Lyczko, 607-274-6714, tlyczko@tompkins-co.org
Health Department encourages smoke free entrances with its Tobacco
Free Zone program
Seventy-five percent of Tompkins County residents say they
are bothered by secondhand tobacco smoke, and nine-in-ten consider
it harmful. Now, the Tompkins County Health Department (TCHD)
is launching a new program that takes one more step to help
residents and visitors avoid unwanted exposure to tobacco smoke.
The program asks businesses and employers to designate certain
outdoor areas such as doorways, entryways, walkways or seating
areas as a “Tobacco Free Zone.” A mailing this week
to over twelve hundred Tompkins County worksites will include
“T-Free Zone” stickers and information about the
benefits of the program. Any business, organization or workplace
may request T-Free Zone stickers, which will be available at
no charge while supplies last. The program was developed at
the TCHD by Tobacco Free Tompkins, a partnership funded by the
New York State Tobacco Control Program (NYTCP). Complete information
about the T-Free Zone program is available on the Tobacco Free
Tompkins web site, www.tompkins-co.org/wellness/tobaccofree/.
The most common place for a T-Free Zone will be building entrances
where customers and employees come and go. After the state’s
Clean Indoor Air Act (CIAA) in July 2003 eliminated indoor smoking
areas and smoking sections in bars and restaurants, smoking
activity often shifted to building entrances. Except at restaurants,
outdoor areas are not covered by either the state or Tompkins
County laws. Now with the new T-Free Zone program, businesses
and employers are encouraged to post a T-Free Zone sticker on
their door to indicate their desire to keep the outside area
around the building entrance smoke free.
Goals for the T-Free Zone program are not limited to making
only the main entrance smoke free, as concern over the discomfort
and health risks brought on by secondhand tobacco smoke continues
to increase. Businesses may also consider posting exit doors,
walkways, seating areas, and outdoor venues as areas they want
to keep smoke free.
A new U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on secondhand smoke,
released June 27, 2006, states that it only takes brief exposure
to secondhand smoke to cause immediate harm to the cardiovascular
system and elevate the risk for heart disease and lung cancer.
The report emphasizes that children are especially vulnerable
to harm from tobacco smoke.
Public health actions to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke
were first taken over thirty years ago. The Surgeon General’s
June 27 report shows that there is no longer any scientific
debate that secondhand smoke causes serious diseases, including
lung cancer, heart disease and respiratory illnesses such as
bronchitis and asthma, and that the only way to protect everyone
from these health hazards is to completely eliminate exposure.
The report makes it clear that other approaches, such as smoking
and non-smoking sections and ventilation technology, do not
eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.
Smoking is still the number one preventable cause of death
in the nation, every year accounting for over 450,000 deaths
nationally and 25,000 deaths in New York State. In Tompkins
County, where about 18 percent of the adult population smokes,
annual health care and lost productivity costs due to smoking
total $36.1 million, and smoking-related Medicaid payments total
$2.7 million per year. To reduce the human and financial costs
TCHD and Tobacco Free Tompkins are committed to lowering the
rate of smoking in the county by helping smokers quit, and helping
others to resist starting. The T-Free Zone program is a key
component of that effort.
Businesses and employers that post tobacco free zones are doing
more than addressing the comfort and health concerns associated
with secondhand smoke. Seeing smokers and smelling tobacco smoke
are strong behavioral cues that can break the resolve of smokers
who want to quit and model behavior for youth who are drawn
to try smoking. A T-Free Zone demonstrates an interest in taking
steps to limit these encounters.
Tobacco Free Tompkins (T-Free) is a partnership of community
organizations and individuals dedicated to reducing the social
and economic burden of tobacco use in Tompkins County. Tobacco
Free Tompkins is a Community Partnership of the New York State
Tobacco Control Program, and is funded by a grant to the Tompkins
County Health Department from the New York State Department
of Health. The Tobacco Free Tompkins web site is www.tompkins-co.org/wellness/tobaccofree.
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Go
to the Tobacco Free Zone website