Smoke-free Ordinance requested of Fiscal Court
Based upon the health risks to workers and to the public, the Smokefree Pulaski County Coalition and the Pulaski County Medical Society request that the Pulaski County Fiscal Court pass an ordinance prohibiting smoking in workplaces and public places. We believe the following supporting assertions can be easily substantiated:
1. Indoor smoking exposes non-smokers, especially workers, to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke, and increases the exposure of smokers.
2. The Surgeon General’s report of 2006 details the consequences of secondhand smoke exposure and makes it clear that indoor smoking should be eliminated.
3. Local studies confirm significant indoor exposures to secondhand smoke in Pulaski County.
4. Local studies indicate overwhelming support for a smoking ban: 79% of our citizens do not smoke; 95% favor a ban in restaurants; 90% favor a ban in public places. (While our surveys are not scientific, they certainly indicate overwhelming support.)
5. The Pulaski County Board of Health and the Somerset City Council have passed resolutions in support of a smoking ban.
6. Indoor smoking bans have been sucessfully implemented in almost all major cities, 22 states, and cities and counties in Kentucky (and in other countries). Clearly, most of the USA has seen the right to healthy air to outweigh any “right” to pollute the air, inside and out.
7. There has been wide acceptance of enacted smoking bans. Businesses have not been hurt. There have been large economic benefits.