July 24 marks the 13th anniversary of New York’s Clean Indoor Air Act, which put an end to smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
By now this is old news; everyone takes it for granted. Teenagers today assume it has always been this way. What was almost unthinkable 20 years ago is now completely normal, a major success story for public health.
The full benefits of the law have been far-reaching. Millions of people have a healthier work environment, large numbers of smokers have been motivated to quit, smoking rates have dropped for both adults and youth and the social acceptability of tobacco has declined sharply.
The law also laid the groundwork for more far-reaching changes. The guarantee of clean air in bars and restaurants led to a decreased tolerance for involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke in other places and this in turn has led to increased demand for tobacco-free parks and smoke-free multi-unit housing. It’s not going too far to say that these transformations too are a legacy of the Clean Indoor Air Act.
There is no question that the act is a landmark public health law that has made a huge difference for the better in peoples’ lives. Because of it, generations of New Yorkers consider it completely normal that restaurants, bars and all other workplaces are smoke-free. It’s an achievement that the Legislature and all of us can always be proud of.
Now, however, it’s time for the Clean Indoor Air Act to be updated to include e-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery devices, which had not yet been invented when the original law was passed in 2003. E-cigarettes are controversial because not enough is known about the chemicals used in them, there is growing evidence that they are not safe for users and bystanders as claimed and they may be a gateway to conventional cigarettes for kids who otherwise would not have become smokers. There is genuine concern that they undercut social norms that stigmatize smoking, compromise existing smoke-free laws and threaten to reverse decades of progress in reducing smoking rates for both youth and adults.
To safeguard the success and effectiveness of the Clean Indoor Air Act, legislation that would subject e-cigarettes to all its provisions and would require vendors to register with Tax & Finance and the Department of Health was introduced this past term in both the Senate and Assembly. The Assembly sponsor, Linda Rosenthal, described it as a common sense measure.
“Using e-cigarettes in places where smoking traditional tobacco products is banned not only poses a health risk, but also undermines the benefits of the Clean Indoor Air Act,” she said.
The bill passed in the Assembly, but unfortunately did not make it through the Senate. It’s interesting to note that the arguments used there against it — that it would impinge on free enterprise and personal choice — are the same ones used in opposition to the original Clean Indoor Air Act in 2003.
In the absence of state law, municipalities have the authority to enact their own. In New York City, for example, all laws that apply to “real” cigarettes also apply to e-cigs, including all those that prohibit smoking in the workplace and in public parks. Columbia and Greene counties, in addition to many others, have added e-cigarettes to policies addressing tobacco use on county property. Business, industry and community organizations are also free to impose their own restrictions on the use of e-cigarettes and we urge them to do so.
This is not a substitute for action on the state level. The underlying principle of the Clean Indoor Air Act is that everyone has to play by the same rules in order to create a healthy work environment for all. We cannot afford to jeopardize the continued success of this historic legislation.
The Legislature will have another opportunity next year to take up the e-cigarette amendment again. On the second try, we are counting on them to do the right thing for public health.
The Healthcare Consortium, 325 Columbia St., Hudson, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve access to quality health care for residents of Columbia and Greene counties. For more information, visit www.columbiahealthnet.org or call 518-822-8820.
Resource :http://www.registerstar.com/news/article_94ae2e62-4ea0-11e6-87b4-574142697b2e.html
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