Secondhand Smoke
Research
Legal risks to employers who allow smoking in the workplace
A recent report documents the dangers employers face if they allow smoking in the workplace. These include a variety of legal risks, such as worker’s compensation cases and state and federal disability law. Click here to view the abstract of the study, which was published in the August edition of the American Journal of Public Health.
Smoking Bans Reduce Smoking
A Canadian study published in the online edition of the journal Health Reports determined that smoking bans result in smokers either quitting or reducing their cigarette consumption. The researchers found smokers residing in newly smoke-free homes or workplaces during the past decade were more likely to quit during the ensuing two years than smokers with no restrictions at home or at work. To read more, click here.
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National
Cars with kids: NYC’s next smoking ban?
New York City Councilman James Gennaro has introduced a proposal that would ban smoking in a car with minors. The legislation would give police the power to pull over any smoking driver believed to be transporting passengers under the age of eighteen. The offense would earn a driver a $100 ticket. To become law, the proposal will need to be passed by the City Council and signed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Click here to read more.
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Resources
“Making Smokefree Housing Laws Work”
As California communities begin to consider laws to restrict smoking in multi-unit housing, they face an important question: How will the new law be enforced? To show how various enforcement options would play out, the Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC) has introduced “Making Smokefree Housing Laws Work,” a full-color photo novella that brings to life the options presented in TALC’s Sample Ordinance Regulating Smoking in Multi-Unit Residences. The booklet depicts a common problem – a nonsmoking tenant living in an apartment where tobacco smoke is drifting in from a neighboring unit – and shows the steps a tenant, a landlord, and local police department and member of the public could take to enforce a smokefree housing law. Click here to download the document or to request a copy by mail.
New Checklists for TALC Model Ordinances
The Technical Assistance Legal Center (TALC) and the Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing (the Center) have introduced a new series of Model Ordinance Checklists.
The checklists are now available at the TALC website at http://www.talc.phi.org/. Click here to access the model ordinances for licensing tobacco retailers. To view model ordinances on creating smokefree recreational areas click here.
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