Read a facts sheet about the problems with ventilating smoking establishments.

The article is entitled, VENTILATION
AND AIR FILTRATION: THE SCIENCE

Secondhand smoke affects everyone exposed to it. Evidence continues to accumulate saying that exposure to secondhand smoke increases non-smokers risk of lung cancer and heart disease. In children, exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with respiratory problems including asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and low birth weight.

It hurts more people that using tobacco.Each year in the United States, smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, drug abuse, car crashes, murder, suicides, and fires . . . combined.

If I smoke in the car, I crack the window. That way, nobody else has to breathe my smoke.

Even cracking the window will not prevent those riding with you from being exposed to the dangerous hazards of secondhand smoke.

Employees who breathe smoke from their co-workers' cigarettes miss twice as many days of work as employees in smoke-free offices. Irritants in secondhand smoke increased chest colds, eye irritation and respiratory illnesses in nonsmokers. Workers exposed to secondhand smoke are 34% more likely to get lung cancer!

It doesn't bother my kids when I smoke. They're just as healthy as the average child.

Secondhand smoke exposure is associated with increased respiratory irritation (cough, phlegm production and wheezing) and middle ear infections as well as upper respiratory tract symptoms (sore throats and colds) in infants and children. Secondhand smoke exposure caused by parental smoking contributes to 150,000 to 300,000 cases annually of lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children under 18 months of age; 7,500 to 15,000 of these cases require hospitalization.

If my restaurant goes smoke-free I will lose money.

GRAPH AT RIGHT:
Total revenues from eating and drinking establishments with full liquor licenses in California before a state smokefree workplace law went into effect (open circles), and when bars were required to be smokefree (solid circles). Data from quarterly reports of the California State Board of Equalization.

The number of communities and restaurants that have gone smoke-free are growing. Instead of losing revenue, since enacting smoke-free business policies, many restaurants have increased their business. In addition to clean air, restaurant owners report fewer burns in seats and cushions and no smoke damage to walls and curtains making for an overall cleaner facility. Click here for more—

Raising the price of tobacco products won't make a difference.

Raising the price of tobacco products is the number one way to prevent our youth from using tobacco.

Chewing is not as bad as smoking.

Smokeless tobacco is a deadly killer in its own right.

The nicotine in cigarettes is addictive, and it isn't easy to break that addiction.

But it can be done - half the people who once smoked have now quit.

Smoking low-tar cigarettes is healthier.

So-called "low tar" cigarettes only seem that way in machine tests. People don't smoke like machines. They smoke low-tar cigarettes more aggressively than high-tar cigarettes, inhaling more deeply and smoking more cigarettes. There is no safe cigarette.

If you fail to quit the first time you try, you'll never be able to quit.

It takes, on average, six quitting attempts before a person actually succeeds in breaking the addiction. You learn something each time you try, and each time you try, you are more likely to succeed.

Smokeless tobacco is not addictive.

The same addictive nicotine that is in cigarettes is the same addictive nicotine that is in smokeless tobacco. If you chew, you are playing with a chemical that is just as addictive as cocaine or heroin!

Smokeless tobacco does not lead to smoking.

Actually, once someone who chews becomes addicted to nicotine, they frequently will begin smoking since it has fewer social restrictions.

Smokeless tobacco is a natural food - no chemicals.

Hundreds of poisons and many carcinogens are in smokeless tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco calms a person down.

Smokeless tobacco actually is a stimulant and causes depression upon withdrawal.

Cigars can't cause cancer if you don't inhale.

Cigar smokers have lung cancer rates that are three times as high as those of non-smokers. Cigar smokers are four to ten times more likely to die than non-smokers from cancer of the mouth, larynx and esophagus. SO, even if you don't mean to inhale, the smoke still enters your mouth, throat and lungs significantly increasing your risk of cancer.

Cigars are not much worse than cigarettes.

Cigars contain the addictive drug nicotine, just like cigarettes. Because of their size, smoking one cigar is like smoking three to eight cigarettes. Cigars don't have filters to reduce tar and nicotine. So, BIGGER, DIRTIER AND JUST AS (IF NOT MORE) ADDICTIVE.

Smoking in moderation is not harmful. Just a few cigarettes won't hurt you.

Carbon monoxide replaces the oxygen in your bloodstream, your blood pressure raises and your heart rate increases.
You may have nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness, headaches and coughing. Your risk of heart attack can increase by 3 times by smoking as few as 1 cigarette a day. Are just a few cigarettes worth it?

I'm young. I can quit anytime.

Do you think you can quit heroin or cocaine anytime? Nicotine is as addictive as these hard-core drugs. Most long-term smokers started as teens and can't stop (and now wish they could). Once you start, it is extremely difficult to stop.