LETTER: In support of statewide ‘smoke-free’ legislation

To the editor:

Most Alaskans support a smoke free workplace including 51 percent of smokers who support a statewide smoke-free law — SB63. There is overwhelming support in the legislature for SB63. It’s long past time to pass this bill and your legislators need to hear from you. Yet, a few still see this as government intrusion into local affairs. This is not a “local control” issue, this is a workplace safety issue in a state where a small town may only have a few places of employ most of the year. If your only option is bartending in the off-fishing/tourist season you know what I mean. Aerosols, tobacco, marijuana are all part of the air space now. Taking it outside supports the individual’s right to inhale whether they are a nonsmoker or a smoker. Most of us wouldn’t stay in the room when a back draft of the wood stove fills it with smoke. Neither would we stay in a garage with a running car. Why would we sit in a room and work in those conditions? Secondhand smoke is bad for your health. Your heart and lungs take a beating while you’re breathing it in. The number one killer for men and women today is a heart disease followed by lung cancer. Chronic lower respiratory disease, strokes, and asthma are at the top of the list as well. These diseases are costly for families and add to the high costs of health care. Smoke-free state laws are proven to reduce significantly the numbers of patients admitted for heart attacks which saves millions of dollars in hospital costs. We also know that quitting smoking is hard to do and a smoke free workplace has a positive effect on those trying to quit. It’s good for business. Palmer’s local bars are thriving and the regulars take a smoke break out back. We have increasing numbers of people who come out from Anchorage and Eagle River to lunch and shop, and they do know we are smoke free here. Alaska’s state prison system is smoke free. It has been for a long time. We don’t imprison felons or corrections employees in a smoking environment. Let’s not imprison other Alaskans in smoking workplace environments. Call your legislators and tell them to support SB63 so we can all breathe free.

—Brooke Heppinstall

Palmer