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| An eight hour shift in a smoke filled room is equivalent to one pack of cigarettes—those who work in smoky restaurants are at a greater risk of getting lung cancer. |
What’s New
VICTORY! On April 9th 2006 the Maryland General Assembly passed one of the nation’s strongest smoke-free workplace laws which Gov. O’Malley has promised to sign. The statewide victory follows on the heels of Baltimore City’s vote earlier this year to go smoke-free.
Maryland PIRG thanks the bill sponsors, Senator Garagiola and Delegate Barbara Frush, and the cosponsors for their decisive action that will help protect employees and patrons and prevent illness and deaths from secondhand smoke.
What the statewide bill does
- All indoor workplaces, including restaurants, bars and private clubs will go smoke-free February 1, 2008.
- Establishments can request a hardship waiver from their local health office. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in partnership with the Comptroller of Maryland will determine the requirements for the waiver.
- All waivers expire in 2011.
How You Can Help
Send an e-mail to the Chairmen of the House Economic Matters Committee and the Senate Finance Committee and thank them for protecting public health by making Maryland the 18 th smoke-free state.
Background
Smoking is a hazard to people’s health. Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides – combined. Of all the illnesses and deaths that occur throughout the state, smoking-related occurrences are the most preventable.
Tobacco companies make a product that kills 440,000 Americans a year, which is 1,200 Americans a day. The kicker is that not only does the tobacco industry produce a lethal substance that kills hundreds of thousands of Americans a year, but it also purposefully spikes tobacco with specific ingredients in order to make tobacco so addictive that people will struggle for years, even their entire lives, to give up the deadly habit without success.
Why, you may ask, does the tobacco industry knowingly and purposefully produce a deadly substance that is hard to give up? The answer is money. Additionally, the industry spends billions of dollars every year on advertising that targets young people. By targeting a young population, the tobacco industry ensures that these youngsters will be tobacco customers for life.
In order to make even more money, tobacco companies are wielding their power to block a law in Maryland that would protect people from second hand smoke. Second hand smoke leads to 53,000 deaths a year and the Centers for Disease Control has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke, the third leading cause of preventable death in America. As a result, over 1,000 cities and 17 states have taken action to protect its citizens by banning smoking inside of all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
Maryland ’s restaurant and bar workers are most at risk. Many of Maryland workers can't avoid the second hand smoke and have to spend 8 hours a day breathing in second hand smoke. In a smoke filled room for one shift of 8 hours the workers are smoking the equivalent of 1 to 2 packs a day. Restaurant and bar workers are the only remaining unprotected work force.
We can use local laws to beat big tobacco. It is time that someone countered the power and influence of the big tobacco companies, like Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds. And that is exactly what we at Maryland PIRG are doing. With your help, we have a chance to win ordinances to ban smoking from all workplaces including bars and restaurants in Maryland.
