From Harford County Government:
(Bel Air, MD) – The Harford County Department of Administration held a public hearing on the County’s proposed rule and regulation requiring County property to be tobacco-free. The hearing was held Monday, December 5, 2011 at the Harford County Government Administration Building in Bel Air.
Less than 10 individuals took the opportunity to address representatives of the Administration regarding the proposed policy. However several citizens and employees have submitted written comments regarding the proposal.
Subsequently, the Director of Administration Mary Chance is holding open the period of public comment for an additional seven (7) days, through December 14, 2011, to receive input from citizens, employees and those who will be affected by the proposed tobacco-free environment policy.
Those wishing to submit comments mail do so by emailing the Office of the County Executive at CountyExecutiveOffice@harfordcountymd.gov or by contacting the Office of Constituent Services at 410-638-3511, Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
In my opinion, ALL public property should be SMOKE FREE. There is NOTHING worse than having to walk through a smoke cloud before entering a place of business. Second hand smoke is more dangerous than first hand smoking. Think I am just being against smokers….your sadly mistaken. Take time to do your research. I did. The following info came from Cancer.org
Secondhand Smoke
What is secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke (SHS) is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). SHS is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco:
Sidestream smoke – the smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar
and
Mainstream smoke – the smoke that is exhaled by a smoker
Even though we think of these as the same, they aren’t. The sidestream smoke has higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) than the mainstream smoke. And, it contains smaller particles than mainstream smoke, which make their way into the body’s cells more easily.
When non-smokers are exposed to SHS it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in SHS take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do. The more SHS you are exposed to, the higher the level of these harmful chemicals in your body.
Why is secondhand smoke a problem?
Secondhand smoke causes cancer
Secondhand smoke is classified as a “known human carcinogen” (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization.
Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds; SHS contains more than 7,000. More than 250 of these chemicals are known to be harmful, and more than 60 are known to cause cancer.
SHS has been linked to lung cancer. There is also some evidence suggesting it may be linked with childhood leukemia and cancers of the larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), brain, bladder, rectum, stomach, and breast.
Secondhand smoke and breast cancer
Whether SHS increases the risk of breast cancer is an issue that is still being studied. Both mainstream and SHS contain about 20 chemicals that, in high concentrations, cause breast cancer in rodents. And we know that in humans, chemicals from tobacco smoke reach breast tissue and are found in breast milk.
But a link between SHS and breast cancer risk in human studies is still being debated. This is partly because breast cancer risk has not been shown to be increased in active smokers. One possible explanation for this is that tobacco smoke may have different effects on breast cancer risk in smokers and in those who are exposed to SHS.
A report from the California Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 concluded that the evidence regarding SHS and breast cancer is “consistent with a causal association” in younger women. This means the SHS acts as if it could be a cause of breast cancer in these women. The 2006 US Surgeon General’s report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, found that there is “suggestive but not sufficient” evidence of a link at this point.
Research is still being done, but women should be told that this possible link to breast cancer is yet another reason to avoid being around SHS.
Secondhand smoke causes other kinds of diseases and deaths
Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. Each year in the United States alone, it is responsible for:
An estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are current non-smokers
About 3,400 lung cancer deaths as a result of breathing SHS
Worse asthma and asthma-related problems in up to 1 million asthmatic children
Between 150,000 and 300,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children under 18 months of age, and lung infections resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations each year
Surgeon General’s reports: Findings on smoking, secondhand smoke, and health
Since 1964, 30 separate US Surgeon General’s reports have been written to make the public aware of the health issues linked to tobacco and SHS. The ongoing research used in these reports continues to support the fact that tobacco and SHS are linked to serious health problems that could be prevented. The reports have highlighted many important findings on SHS, such as:
SHS kills children and adults who don’t smoke.
SHS causes disease in children and in adults who don’t smoke.
Exposure to SHS while pregnant increases the chance that a woman will have a spontaneous abortion, still-born birth, low birth- weight baby, and other pregnancy and delivery problems.
Chemicals in tobacco smoke damage sperm which might reduce fertility and harm fetal development. SHS is known to damage sperm in animals, but more studies are needed to find out its effects in humans.
Babies and children exposed to SHS are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear infections, and more severe and frequent asthma attacks.
Smoking by parents can cause wheezing, coughing, bronchitis, and pneumonia, and slow lung growth in their children.
SHS immediately affects the heart, blood vessels, and blood circulation in a harmful way. Over time it can cause heart disease, strokes, and heart attacks.
SHS causes lung cancer in people who have never smoked. Even brief exposure can damage cells in ways that set the cancer process in motion.
There is no safe level of exposure to SHS. Any exposure is harmful.
Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to SHS in their homes and workplaces despite a great deal of progress in tobacco control.
On average, children are exposed to more SHS than non-smoking adults.
The only way to fully protect non-smokers from exposure to SHS indoors is to prevent all smoking in that indoor space or building. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot keep non-smokers from being exposed to SHS.
Where is secondhand smoke a problem?
You should be especially concerned about exposure to secondhand smoke in these 4 places:
At work
The workplace is a major source of SHS exposure for adults.
SHS is classified as a potential cancer-causing agent by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the federal agency responsible for health and safety regulations in the workplace. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), another federal agency, also recommends that SHS be considered a possible carcinogen in the workplace. Because there are no known safe levels, they recommend that exposures to SHS be reduced to the lowest possible levels.
SHS in the workplace has been linked to an increased risk for heart disease and lung cancer among adult non-smokers. The Surgeon General has said that smoke-free workplace policies are the only way to do away with SHS exposure at work. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating the building cannot prevent exposure if people still smoke inside the building. An extra bonus other than protecting non-smokers is that workplace smoking restrictions may also encourage smokers to smoke less, or even quit.
In public places
Everyone can be exposed to SHS in public places, such as restaurants, shopping centers, public transportation, schools, and daycare centers. The Surgeon General has suggested people choose restaurants and other businesses that are smoke-free, and let owners of businesses that are not smoke-free know that SHS is harmful to your family’s health.
Some businesses seem to be afraid to ban smoking, but there is no proof that going smoke-free is bad for business. Public places where children go are a special area of concern. Make sure that your children’s day care center or school is smoke-free.
HAVE A GREAT DAY
THE ABOVE LINK IS FROM THE CDC (CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL)
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm
Wow the people that work at the D C are going to freak out! That’s probabily why DeHaven retired he spent about 3 hours each day outside smoking! IRS a great thing for health and expenditures of county funds for employees standing around doing nothing!!