The Alliance of Boulder County
on Tobacco and Health

Tobacco as a Problem for Nonsmokers

This page contains links to recent media articles about tobacco and its many effects on nonsmokers -

• Breast Cancer to Cigarette Smoking Link
• Bystanders with Health Conditions that Require They Avoid Tobacco Smoke
• Different Numbers of US Deaths Due to Secondhand Smoke
• Do Tobacco Addicts Have a "Habit"
• Governor Signs Clean Indoor Air Act
• Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke
• National Secondhand Smoke Ventilation Action Alert
• Pesticide Use on Tobacco Crops in Brazil
• Proposed Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act 2005
• Secondhand Tobacco Smoke A Known Carcinogen
• Should People have Access to Medical Facilities?
• Smoke-free Housing Developments

An excellent disucssion about how the American Disabilities Act (ADA) applies (or at least should) to people with health conditions that require they avoid tobacco smoke is at GASP of Colorado's Education Center -

• Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA): How It Can Protect You From Second-hand Smoke; http://www.gaspforair.org/gedc/gedcadis.htm

The Hazards of Secondhand Smoke

And - it is worth keeping in mind some of the reasons for our concern about tobacco use in public places -

Nonsmokers face a variety of serious risks from exposure to other people's tobacco smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control, secondhand tobacco smoke smoke:

• Tobacco continues to be the number one cause of preventable disease and death in Colorado.
• More people die from smoking each year than AIDS, car accidents, drug and alcohol abuse, fires, homicide, and suicide combined.
• And, for each tobacco-related death, another 20 adults suffer from a tobacco-related illness.
• Causes 3,000 nonsmokers' deaths from lung cancer and 62,000 heart disease deaths in U.S. each year;
• Causes serious respiratory problems in children, including increasing the frequency and severity of asthma attacks;
• Increases the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and middle-ear infections in children;
• Represents a common, severe public-health hazard that can be entirely prevented by adopting and enforcing comprehensive smokefree public areas regulations.
• There is a law called the American Disabilities Act that says people with the disability of a health problem that requires they do not breath tobacco smoke should have access to public amenities.

Return to the Alliance home page.

URL of this page: http://bcn.boulder.co.us/community/abct/abct2ndx.htm