Senate Bill 1 will protect all workers

To the editor:

Secondhand smoke kills. The Surgeon General said it best in his 2006 update to the Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke:

“The debate is over, the science is clear. There is no safe level of secondhand smoke.”

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 69 that cause cancer. Non-smokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease and lung cancer risk by up to 30 percent. Everyone deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air.

Unfortunately, only about 50 percent of Alaska is covered by smoke-free ordinances. Senate Bill 1, if passed will protect all workers in Alaska from exposure to deadly secondhand smoke. Nobody should have to choose between their health and a paycheck.

Senate Bill 1: It’s about health and it’s about time.

Ashley Peltier

Wasilla