Secondhand smoke remains a problem Cigarette exposure kills 700 Oklahomans every year, officials say. Secondhand smoke remains a problem for Oklahomans
While Oklahomans are now smoking 49.3 million fewer packs of cigarettes than four years ago, the secondhand smoke from those cigarettes causes numerous health hazards and kills about 700 Oklahomans a year, health authorities said Thursday.
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"We need to make Oklahoma 100 percent smoke-free,” Wes Glinsmann, spokesman for the American Heart Association, said at a state Capitol news conference. Officials there urged state leaders to close loopholes and exemptions on smoking in places such as restaurants, hotels, bars and bingo halls.
Nonsmokers outnumber smokers in Oklahoma about 2 million to 650,000, or 3 to 1, according to state Health Department data.
Glinsmann said nonsmokers are 30 percent more likely to develop heart disease if they are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. Asthmatics can't even be exposed to a small amount of smoke without having breathing difficulties, health officials said.
Cynthia Hallett, executive director of the California-based Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, said 30 states and more than 600 U.S. cities have smoke-free laws.
"Unfortunately, Oklahoma is not one of these,” said Hallett, adding that Oklahoma has statutes which prohibit cities from having tougher smoke-free laws than the state. Cattlemen's Steak House spent $40,000 in 2005 to create seating areas for both smokers and nonsmokers. A wall separates the areas, and a ventilation system to quickly remove smoke from customers' cigarettes.
"It's worked out beautifully,” owner Dick Stubbs said.
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Judi: Oh, so telling the truth about the hate campaign against smokers that you support and encourage is somehow rude and hateful, but it is all right for you health Nazis to pass hate-laws and impose hate-taxes against smokers, and use tax money to permeate the media with hate-propaganda against smokers? No, I am telling the truth whereas you are the one that spews the hate. One of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, (You know who he is, don’t you?) said that to compel a man to pay taxes for the propagation of ideas and opinions with which he disagrees is both sinful and tyrannical. Yet you have no problem with forcing smokers to pay exorbitant taxes to support organizations that daily spew hate against smokers. Thomas Jefferson statement highlights the hate campaign that you and your ilk support against smokers. It is both fascist and un-American and tramples on freedom, individual liberty, and property rights. You try to insinuate that smokers and I are ignorant because we don’t believe your junk-science supported hate propaganda against smokers. You insinuate that smokers abuse their children by smoking and you support breaking up families because of your hatred against smokers. It is indeed you and your kind who are hateful and cruel. As for the ignorance that you claim runs in my family. I have more than one post graduate degree. What about you? I speak more than one language and have lived in foreign countries. What about you? You also got the emotion wrong. It is not anger but disgust. There are at least three types of people that disgust me: racists, fascists, and anti-smokers.
Tom: I am really getting a good laugh out of your replies, so thank you for entertaining me this weekend. I was actually up doing a feeding with with one of my newborn twins and was killing time waiting for the next one to wake up. Interesting that in almost all of the comments you posted, you refer to me as a hater, yet all of your comments are extremely rude and hateful. I do appreciate your sympathy from early on in our commenting though, stating that you are sorry cancer runs in my family. Well, I'm very sorry that ignorance runs in yours. A few final words for you: Anger Management! (You really do need it). Take care.
Judi: State control is exactly the issue and that is why you want to dismiss it. Anti-smokers have successfully instituted hate-laws and hate-taxes against smokers nationwide. Tax financed hate-speech against smokers permeates the media. This totally violates the spirit of the US Constitution and the intent of the founding fathers. You should be ashamed of yourself for being so un-American. and attacking the foundational principles of the Constitution which are individual liberty and freedom. I have to breath your exhaust fumes when you drive a car. I suggest an experiment. I’ll lock myself in an air-tight garage with a chain smoker for 30 minutes and you lock yourself in a garage with a car running for 30 minutes. To complain about smokers when you drive a car is hypocritical. (Your education level is high enough for you to drive a car, isn’t it?)
Judi: Are you overweight, ugly? Do you have conflicts with family members and trouble keeping friends? Is your life so miserable that you find yourself unable to sleep at 2 am in the morning? Of course it is acceptable for smokers to smoke with their children in the car. Why would it not be? The largest and most extensive study on secondhand smoke by the WHO found absolutely NO HARM from secondhand smoke. In fact, the only statistically significant correlation they observed was that the CHILDREN OF SMOKER HAVE LESS RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS that the children of non-smokers. You attack smokers based on your hatred of smokers and the anti-smoker junk science of Adolph Hitler that your fellow hate-mongers continue to use.
Tom, by the way, if it were about state control, I would simply say, ban smoking all together- make it illegal to smoke period! But, that's not he issue- if people choose to be dumb enough to smoke, knowing all of the health risks, that's their choice, I just want clean air in public places so that I don't have to breath the crap. Smokers can smoke all they want to in their own personal space.
Judi: You are under the impression that I smoke. I am a libertarian who exposes the hypocrisy of health fascists like you. I believe in individual liberty and freedom like our founding fathers. (Many of whom were tobacco growers and consumers.). Anti-smokers like you believe in state control of the individual through oppressive legislation that is based on junk science just like the Nazis did in Hitler’s Germany. Your way of thinking is scary and is the type of worldview that gave rise to Nazism and Jim Crow laws. You need someone to hate and oppress so you can feel better about yourself while telling yourself that you are doing good. You obviously have issues with your family members. You can get counseling for your dysfunctional personality. There are plenty of mental health professionals in the phonebook. You have to admit your hate to yourself though, before you can get better. I really encourage you to get mental health counseling so you won’t be so miserable. And you should know that anti-smoker funding in the US is well over a billion dollars a year so your hate-mongering friends are not short of money to spread their hate-propaganda.
Tom: Lawsuits- yes, because people are dying from their products. And, I'm certain that the tobacco companies have a better opportunity than anyone to get their facts out there considering they have much deeper pockets for better legal representation than the "hate-mongering" people that they are up against. Anyway, we clearly disagree on this subject and that's OK because everyone is entitled to their own opinions. In the event that you ever decide you would like to quit smoking, you should call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. My cousin used this to quit and was successful. And even if you don't decide to quit, I hope luck is on your side and you live as long as your Grandma did. Truly, I'm not a hater of anyone.
Judi: Politics and lawsuits. Duh. Phillips Morris sold out its customer base long ago to politically correct hate-mongering organizations like the ACS. Why is Phillip Morris right when it agrees with you but was not right when it was fighting your hate-propaganda? I wonder if there is research to support that anti-smokers have lower education levels? Just to be clear, I am in no way intending to pick on anti-smokers or stereotype them as ignorant, but rather, I am simply trying to understand why it is so hard for people to understand and accept the truth about the fact that the WHO study on secondhand smoke (the largest and most conclusive ever) demonstrates that secondhand smoke causes NO HARM to anyone.
Tom: One additional note- If secondhand smoke is not a "real" health concern, then why is it that Philip Morris has a section on their web site dedicated to warning the public of the dangers associated with secondhand smoke? So, don't listen to me, the crazy girl that needs psychological help, listen to your "Friends" at PM USA that are producing your cigs. I have provided a link to this information for your convenience: http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/cms/Products/Cigarettes/Health_Issues/Secondhand_Smoke/default.aspx
Tom: To set the record straight, I do not have a "hatred" for smokers. As I stated in my previous comment, my whole family smokes- I grew up in a home with smoking parents and my own best friend is a smoker. It's unfortunate that you translate this to hate vs. concern for our population as a whole (smokers included). With all due respect, I will choose to base my concerns with secondhand smoke on information stated from credible sources who are trained in this area and have dedicated their careers to researching the effects and interpreting the data. I suspect you do not meet that criteria. But, keep on smoking your cigarettes, and I'll just save the money that I DON'T spend on them for the psychological help that you so graciously recommended for me.
Judi: "Secondhand" smoke causes nobody any harm. The WHO study demonstrates that, which is why the health fascist anti-smokers have suppressed the largest study on secondhand smoke, because it doesn't support their hate-campaign against smokers. What I do not understand is how anti-smokers can be so ADDICTED to their HATE against smokers when secondhand smoke (as demonstrated by the WHO study) causes NO HARM to anyone. The air in buildings is actually much dirtier now after the ban on indoor smoking because they no longer bring in outside air but just recirculate the bacteria and virus laden air to save on heating and cooling costs. Why should I have to breath your secondhand bacteria? You really need to seek psychological help for your irrational hatred of smokers. My grandmother, who smoked heavily, died in bed of natural causes at over the age of 100 years whereas my virulently anti-smoker aunt died of cancer at a much much younger age. Sorry cancer runs in your family, it's not the smoking that caused it. What's not acceptable is that you anti-smokers oppress taxpaying smokers worse than Hitler did in Nazi Germany.
I wonder if there is research to support that smokers have lower education levels? Just to be clear, I am in no way intending to pick on smokers or stereotype them, but rather, I am simply trying to understand why it is so hard for people to understand and accept the truth about the harm that secondhand smoke causes. Yes, I am a non-smoker, but I come from a whole family of smokers, many of whom have already passed from cancer. So, I fully understand the addiction, but wouldn't it be nice if people would focus their efforts on trying to quit, and reach out to the resources that are available to help them quit vs. spending all of their energy defending and justifying why what they are doing is acceptable? As a non-smoker I have rights too, which should include being able to walk into my office building everyday breathing clean air. But instead, everyday I get to walk right into lovely clouds of smoke because of the smokers gathered at each entrance to the building. Since the smokers believe non-smokers can choose to avoid places with smoke, I guess this means the expectation is that I should find a new job. Ridiculous!
i believe this topic has been addressed before, but if a person wants to smoke or dip then it is their business to do so. also if a restraunt, bowling ,bar or whatever business or company, it should be their business also. this secondhand smoke is as bunch of crap and people should realize that there is so much food, factories ,autos and chemicals that is used every day that someone is going to get affected. but secondhand smoke, bullhocky. i know alot of people that grew up around smoking parents or inlwawsmuncle and unts and they are healthy. i used to work at a place that everyone smoked except one person and he griped all the time. there were smoking machines in the place to get rid of the smoke, she tried to sue the company but was told it was our right. so people who hack hack for no reason better lay off and keep your nose on your face on this matter. its kinda funny that i go to a restraunt and its non-smoking but in front of the place is people smoking and cigarette butts all over the place. should have kepted a smoking section. yes i smoke and i still exercise and run but what problem i have is my cholesterol. too much good food to go to waste but i have been watching the sat. fat part. go smokers
OK, what else can we ban with a totalitarian government besides second hand smoke - trans fats, fried foods, auto and diesel exhaust, any junk foods that contribute to overweightedness and heartattacks, sugar...........................welcome to the Soviet Union, people, where you have a wetnursing government that "knows best" what's right for you.
Personally, I think it should be up to the OWNER of the business whether or not they wish to allow smoking. I know smokers who choose not to go to non-smoking venues and vice versa. If you don't like the place, don't go there. THAT is the choice you should make. Not by forcing your choice onto others.
The WHO study on second hand smoke found only one statically significant correllation: The children of smokers had fewer children with respiratory problems. Hitler also used the it's-for-the-children claim in his hate-propaganda against smokers. There's nothing new under the sun with it comes to the hate-mongering tactics of anti-smokers.
If smoking is so bad for person's health, then why do both the Greeks and the Japanese smoke at 3 to 5 times the rate of Americans yet live longer and are healthier? If you say it is their diets, then you've made my point that anti-smokers are engaged in nothing more than a hate-campaign against smokers. What is the benefit of health Nazis telling other people how to live based on the same anti-smoker junk science that Hitler used against smokers?
WeNdE if you have kids, then it is way past time you stop spelling your name that way. Just so juvenile. And WeNdE...let's tell you how to raise your children. No smoking in cars with children? Fine. Don't do that anyway. But those children are at risk for a helluva lot more things in your car than smoke. From your messing around with your cell phone, GPS, makeup mirror, to you nipping on that bottle of gin, there are far worse dangers. Let's protect your children by making sure they're not inhaling car fumes. So get out and walk teen bride......or pathetic aging woman who can't cope with maturing.
I think we need a law outlawing automobiles. It's unhealthy in large cities to breathe in all that auto exhaust. And it's the cause of all these high ozone alerts we get in the summer months. Where is Hillary and her communitarian ideals when se need her?
Tom, put the matches down and step away from the crack pipe. What world do you live in? Get your stories straight. Tobacco kills weither it is in the form of smoke or dipping. Wake up Tom and join the real world.
No it isn't a hate campaign. If people want to continue to smoke and kill themselves fine but they shouldn't be able to kill others while they are doing it. I love being able to go out to eat now without worrying about my children and the smoke. I think Oklahoma should pass a law where people can not smoke in the car with their children. Even though they are your children that doesn't give you the right to kill them!
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Tobacco sales
Total Oklahoma cigarette sales (tribal and nontribal combined):
•2003: 356.5 million packs sold.
•2007: 307.2 million packs sold.
Secondhand smoke
Secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, is a mixture of gases and particles that includes smoke from the burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe tip. It contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.
Sources: Oklahoma Tax Commission, U.S. Centers for Disease
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