This is Public Health

Oct. 1 of this year marked the 6th anniversary of Montana’s Clean Indoor Air Act.

Originally passed in 2005, this law eliminates smoking from every workplace and indoor public place, including public schools.

The University of Montana’s smokefree policy went into effect on Aug. 28, 2011 and Montana State University is going to spend this school year educating students about the new policy before implementation. Senate Bill 643 recognizes the right of individuals to breathe smokefree air and is critical to protecting the health of all Montanans.

The law provided an exception for bars until Oct. 1, 2009. Businesses are also required to post no-smoking signage in prominent locations at all entrances.

Local governments and individual businesses have the right to pass their own no-smoking ordinances, as long as they are as strict as the state law. For example, the Lake County Courthouse and Public Health Department have a 30-ft. no-smoking perimeter clause, as clearly indicated with signage at all entrances.

As of July 1, 2011, 23 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have 100 percent smokefree laws, meaning restaurants and bars are included. This law is one of the most important public health policies in history. Other countries that have passed similar laws include, Ireland, Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The three main intents of the law are:

• To protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment.

• To recognize the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air; and

• To recognize that the need to breathe smokefree air has priority over the desire to smoke.

While there are clear intentions of the law, there are also intended health benefits; and these are: Patrons and workers are protected from the detrimental effects of secondhand smoke exposure; more people who smoke will try to quit and fewer youth will begin smoking.

Some of the science behind the law:

• Secondhand smoke exposure, even for as little as 30 minutes, can cause heart attacks. People at risk for heart disease or stroke are particularly vulnerable.

• Smokefree laws reduce heart attack rates by nearly 20 percent.

• Secondhand smoke toxins adhere to surfaces; people unknowingly are exposed to these toxins long after smoking has ceased.

• Secondhand smoke exposure causes many other health problems: Including an increased risk of breast cancer in young women; heart disease and lung cancer in adults; low birth weight infants, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS); childhood ear and respiratory infections, and worsened asthma in children.

Glenda Woods, co-owner of the Sportspage Bowl and Lounge, said that since going smokefree, food sales have increased. More families are coming in to eat together in a clean, smokefree environment. She also contends that cleaning is easier. Probably the most important, her employees are happy because they don’t have to breathe toxic cigarette smoke while on the job.

And, that is the main intent of the law: “Because everyone deserves a smokefree workplace.”