Delaware Celebrates 10 Years of Smoke-Free Air
November 28, 2012
Congratulations to Delaware, which on Tuesday celebrated the 10th anniversary of its comprehensive smoke-free workplace law. The law, which applies to all workplaces, including restaurants, bars and casinos, was signed by then-Governor Ruth Ann Minner and implemented on November 27, 2002.
Delaware was the second state after California to enact a strong, statewide smoke-free law, and it helped spur a national movement to protect everyone’s right to breathe clean air. Today, 30 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and more than 700 U.S. cities have smoke-free laws that include all restaurants and bars.
Smoke-free laws have spread rapidly across the United States — and around the world — because there is irrefutable evidence that secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard. There is also growing public demand for elected officials to enact laws making all workplaces and public places smoke-free.
Delaware helped show the nation that smoke-free laws are easily implemented, achieve almost universal compliance and quickly improve air quality and health. Delaware’s experience also added to the overwhelming evidence that smoke-free laws protect health without hurting business.
“Ten years later, the law remains untouched, respected by health-conscious Delawareans and visitors,” write Rita Landgraf, secretary of Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services, and Deborah Brown, president and CEO of the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in non-smoking adults, and respiratory problems, sudden infant death syndrome, low birth weight, ear infections and more severe asthma attacks in infants and children.
It’s time for every state and community to follow Delaware’s lead and go smoke-free.