MY Air Matters

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial June 26, 2009

Good for health,

good for business

I hope I one day will not be asked “smoking or non?” at a restaurant. I hope Missouri will stop ignoring the overwhelming evidence from the former U.S. surgeon general that concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. I dream that my children will be able to choose any job without risking their health for a paycheck.

Now more than ever, we need to focus on trying to make St. Louis smoke-free. In study after study, the facts remain the same: Smoke-free laws are good for health and good for business.

We need to enact a comprehensive smoke-free law that protects the health of the people living and working here. We need our politicians to stop protecting the tobacco industry and start protecting the health of St. Louis residents. Everyone deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air.

And when this happens, when we allow smoke-freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every casino and every bar and restaurant, from every city to every county, we will see the day when patrons and children, business owners and employees, and smokers and non-smokers will be able to join hands and sing: Smoke-free at last!

Carly Caminiti — St. Louis

Smoke-free in the city

As the city considers going smoke-free, it is important to remember that smoke-free air laws exist to protect worker health. There are 14,000 hospitality workers in the city of St. Louis; too many of them are unprotected from secondhand smoke. About 80 percent of St. Louis city residents believe that all workers should work in a smoke-free environment.

Our grass-roots community coalition of more than 5,000 individuals and more than 60 businesses and organizations in the city of St. Louis support smoke-free bars and restaurants, and we thank Alderwoman Lyda Krewson for testing the waters and stimulating the public discourse about smoke-free air in our city.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prove that smoke-free laws reduce exposure to secondhand smoke among workers and the public, reduce cigarette consumption rates, increase successful quit attempts and reinforce efforts to reduce tobacco use among children — all positive changes that we desperately need in our community.

Thousands of communities have gone smoke-free and have done so successfully. It’s not an earth-shattering change; it’s just a simple step that will enrich our city in measurable ways. We look forward to the ongoing public dialogue.

Diana L. Benanti — St. Louis

Coalition Director, Smoke-Free St. Louis City