Smoke-free or die Smoking ban will save lives June 18, 2007 BY KENNETH E. WARNER Every time you enter a Michigan restaurant or bar that allows smoking, you inhale the same radioactive element -- polonium 210 -- that killed the former Russian spy earlier this year. You also draw into your lungs formaldehyde, which is used to preserve dead bodies, and benzene, arsenic, ammonia, carbon monoxide and dozens of other chemicals that cause cancer. There are more than 4,000 chemical compounds in cigarette smoke, and until we pass smoke-free air legislation in Michigan, every citizen patronizing restaurants and bars that permit smoking will be forced to breathe those chemicals. Whether you smoke or not, citizens unfortunate enough to work in bars and restaurants that allow smoking are themselves de facto smokers, inhaling those chemicals for eight or more hours a day. Waiting Kills Our state will eventually go smoke-free. It is not a question of if, but when. Every year that our lawmakers fail to act on this issue, hundreds if not thousands of Michigan citizens will die from completely preventable, premature deaths because of secondhand smoke. Conversely, our current Legislature has a historic opportunity, by passing smoke-free legislation, to affect the greatest life savings ever achieved by Michigan lawmakers. As they debate the wisdom of a smoke-free workplace law, our legislators should consider this: Secondhand smoke is the single deadliest environmental exposure the average person confronts. Until the law changes, we are accepting arsenic as a part of our meal when dining out, and we are tacitly endorsing the presence of hydrogen cyanide in the air of bars. Michigan law not only permits but effectively requires us to inhale those chemicals. House Bill 4163, which is scheduled for a second committee hearing on June 26, would outlaw smoking in the workplace, including bars and restaurants. Our lawmakers will not fulfill their constitutional obligation to protect the health and welfare of Michigan citizens until they vote to pass such smoke-free legislation. There is massive public support for laws protecting innocent people from secondhand smoke. Half the states now ban smoking in workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Over a dozen countries have gone or will go smoke-free within months, including England and France. Ireland went smoke-free in 2004. Surveys of the Irish citizenry consistently find that overwhelming majorities of both nonsmokers and smokers express enthusiasm for their newly smoke-free pubs and restaurants. No Safe Levels There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, and studies have shown that even the most sophisticated ventilation system is inadequate. Adults who don't smoke but are exposed to secondhand smoke have a 25%-30% greater chance of developing heart disease, and a 20%-30% greater chance of developing lung cancer. Studies show that children exposed to secondhand smoke have an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, more severe asthma, and ear problems. Several studies have found that communities that have gone smoke-free have experienced significant decreases in heart attack hospitalizations and deaths. In addition to health benefits, there are economic upsides. Multiple studies show that restaurant sales are not hurt -- and may even increase -- as a result of smoke-free policies, while cleaning costs decline. And right now, Michigan is losing convention business from the numerous professional associations that have adopted policies requiring them to hold their annual meetings in smoke-free states. Does this make sense in a state suffering from severe economic trauma? When a former Russian spy is poisoned with polonium 210, it's front-page news. Yet when a child in Michigan is forced to inhale that same polonium 210 in a restaurant, no one seems to notice. It's time for Michigan's voters to notice. Tell your state lawmakers that you will no longer tolerate the daily poisoning of our citizens. KENNETH E. WARNER is the dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan and an internationally known expert on tobacco-related health and policy issues. He has been on the U-M faculty since 1972 and devoted much of the last 30 years to tobacco-related research. Write to him in care of the Free Press Editorial Page, 600 W. Fort St., Detroit 48226 or oped@freepress.com.