A friend sent me some interesting data Sunday. First, he e-mailed a story from Los Angeles, where terrible fires were raging. It said that public health leaders had issued a smoke advisory because of the health risks posed by fine particulate matter in the air. Citing what’s called a PM2.5 reading of 226, they deemed the air quality “very unhealthy.”
Next, my friend sent a study of indoor air quality in Indianapolis prior to passage of our city’s smokefree-workplace law. It showed an average PM2.5 reading of 432—even more dangerous than the “very unhealthy” air in L.A.
Because Indianapolis made many of its workplaces smokefree, our “average” reading today would be far lower.
But because we exempted from that law such places as bars, adult-only restaurants, bowling alleys and gaming establishments, people who work in those environments still must inhale “very unhealthy” air, shift after shift, day after day, year after year.
And because many Indiana cities, towns and counties still have no smokefree ordinance whatsoever, employees in those communities have no legal protection at all.
There’s movement afoot to provide for Indiana what’s been delivered in 24 U.S. states, including Illinois and Ohio: a statewide smokefree workplace law that protects workers in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
My view: We’d all breathe easier if Indiana enacted such a law. And a level playing field would provide the fairest economic climate for all businesses. What’s your view?
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It seems that the smoking law debates end up centering around smokers’ rights, and not health concerns of employees. How is a person skilled as a bartender, server, etc. supposed to find a good paying job in their field without endangering their health? Any other profession (coal miner, construction, even office work) has more protection.
I would love to see a comprehensive law passed in Indiana so that the arguments can stop and we can get on with more important things.
There’s no question about it–we need a statewide smoke-free law. We’ve already stopped patronizing businesses that do not provide a smoke-free environment. However, as you travel around Indiana in smaller towns, smoking is more prevalent in restaurants. It’s time to pull Indiana from the bottom of the health rankings and give patrons and employees alike a breath of fresh air!
I totally agree! Yet one more reason I enjoy being in Los Angeles!
I couldn’t agree more. I truly hope our legislators will stand-up to the tobacco industry and do the right thing for Hoosier business and Hoosier workers by passing a comprehensive smokefree air law this session.
I feel for you, I really do. New York has gone so smoke-free, it’s a shock to see someone smoking in public. Of course, I still whiff people as they walk by, but in general, I’m not subjected to smoking in any form. I can’t imagine walking into a restaurant and smelling that.
Thanks for this great blog posting.
Everyone deserves the right to a smokefree workplace and nobody, regardless of the job they do, should have to choose between their health and a paycheck.
I for one am tired of this debate and tired of reading these same words over and over again.
People have so many choices these days, I’m not sure this is even worth ANOTHER discussion.
You can patronize places where smoking is not permitted.
The bartender can sling his magic elixir in places where smoking is not permitted.
Be done with this, please.
Indiana ENCOURAGES smoking because this state offers incredibly cheap prices on cigarettes in addition to no comprehensive statewide smoking ban. It would be so smart and healthy for the lawmakers to take a look at other states and countries that have instituted bans and see how much healthier their residents have become. Time to protect all workers from hazardous job environments. Time to raise the price on cigarettes… which will have a double impact: discourage kids from ever starting to smoke and encourage smokers to quit.
No one has the right to poison another person’s air. This state needs to protect its citizens in all public places. Period.
I talked to the HR director for major manufacturer in a mid-sized Indiana city. They want to go smoke free, but if they do, they are fearful that the workers would leave for another factory that is not smoke free. He feels the state needs to go smoke free so there is not a competitive disadvantage for the smoke free workplaces. He also said that when you go smoke free, the workers spend their day thinking about where they will smoke and managers spend their day looking for the workers hiding so they can smoke. The addiction is so great for the worker. The state needs to go smoke free so all plants have the same policy for smoking.
We’re all for a new law. We have a governor who seems favorably disposed. Any chance that Mr. Bauer would honor us by letting the issue get on the agenda?
Thanks to all who’ve replied on this topic. I appreciate the feedback. I have to comment, especialy, on “Tired and Witty.” You say you’re “tired of this debate.” Tired of the “same words over and over.”
Man, so am I.
Tired of having to fight this fight one town, one county, one city at a time while other states and nations protect people’s health in one fell swoop.
Tired of hearing the same nonsensical arguments about freedom to work elsewhere, while waitresses, bartenders, casino workers and others suffer through a struggling economy in the only kind of smoke-choked jobs they can find.
Tired of hearing that people have a “right” to throw civility and courtesy to the wind and expose others to their deadly carcinogens.
I’d be happy to be “done with this,” as you say. The day we have universal smokefree workplace laws to match other public health measures that protect us from one another’s excesses; the day we regulate deadly tobacco products as we regulate the food we eat; the day we send the price of tobacco products through the roof so young people can’t afford to get addicted; I’ll be the happiest guy in the world to be “done with it.”