Letter: Wants state smoke-free

Dear Editor,

Tired of your lungs taking a beating every time you visit a business where smoking is allowed in Wisconsin?

As a Wisconsin resident I urge you to support the statewide smoking ban currently in the governor’s state budget. This would protect all Wisconsinites from secondhand smoke.

It is also known as AB (Assembly Bill) 252. We know the facts that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke (2006 Surgeon General’s Report — The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke). We also know a level playing field for all businesses is important, and businesses want to provide their customers with a healthier environment to breathe in as well as work in.

I remember breathing secondhand smoke every day at work while in the Army and that was less than 20 years ago. The Army finally got it right and now it’s time for Wisconsin to get it right.

We also support this effort since an April 2008 poll showed strong and increasing support all across Wisconsin for a statewide smoke-free law. The poll found an overwhelming 69 percent of Wisconsin voters support a statewide smoke-free law including bars and restaurants (The Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies statewide survey of 700 voters in Wisconsin).

We also know these policies work as evident by Minnesota and 21 other states with three more also scheduled to go smoke-free completely this fall in bars and restaurants (www.smokefreewi.org/priorities/SFenvironments/documents/MapofSmokefreeStates040709.pdf).

Contact Rep. Kitty Rhoades at rep.rhoades@legis.wi.gov or toll free at (888) 529-0030 and let her know you support the governor’s statewide smoking ban and you also support AB 252 without exemptions.

Tags: opinion, hudson, letter, statewide, smoking, ban