Study shows smoking ban has improved the health of hospitably employees

Sunday will mark the one year anniversary of the day Michigan’s popular workplace smoking ban went into effect, and a study just released by Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) shows the law did what it was supposed to do: protect bar and restaurant employees from deadly secondhand smoke.

The added bonus is that the smoking ban has not hurt business in bars and restaurants, but it has improved it. These facts, however, will not stop critics - especially the ban's biggest critic, the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA) - from pushing the lie that it is harming business. The bottom line is that the law is a public health issue, and the MDCH air monitoring proves that.

The MDCH study measured the cotinine levels of 40 bar and restaurant employees working in the same bars four to six weeks before the ban went into effect on May 1, 2010 and then and 6- 10 weeks after the smoke-free law, and the results showed the level of secondhand smoke exposure decreased significantly among bar employees after the law went into effect.

"The law was passed to protect Michigan residents, employees, and visitors from the dangerous health effects secondhand smoke and our studies show that the law is doing its job," said Dr. Greg Holzman, State Chief Medical Executive. "The Surgeon General's Report released in December warned that even short-term exposure to secondhand smoke can have serious health implications for those who suffer from heart disease and respiratory conditions."

Researchers measured the levels of cotinine and NNAL - chemicals found in urine that indicates a person's level of exposure to secondhand smoke – in the 40 employees in 13 counties, and each participant also completed a respiratory and general health questionnaire. The results found cotinine levels went from an average of 35.92 nanograms per milliliters before the law to zero after. Bar employees also reported improvement in reported general health status and respiratory health, including wheezing, allergy symptoms and coughing after the law took effect.

Air monitoring studies were also conducted before and after the smoke-free law went into effect in the state's six major regions including the Southeast, West, Upper Peninsula, Northern Lower Peninsula, Thumb, and Central, and results of the air monitoring studies demonstrate a significant decrease in exposure to secondhand smoke in restaurants of all participating areas to date.

In December the Department of Treasury found that overall sales tax collections in restaurants and bars were up 2.84 percent over last year, verifying that there has never been a credible study that shows a drop in business from a smoking ban. But that has not stopped pro-smoking groups like the MLBA from pushing the lie that it has, and the MLBA has a history of pushing debunked studies to try and prove that lie.

In fact, Lance Binoniemi, executive director of the MLBA, continues to push that lie, and he was quoted in the Detroit Free Press claiming that “the state is losing $1.5 million a week” without an ounce of proof. He is still pushing the effort to weaken the law to amend the law to permit so-called “smoking rooms” and smoking patios. In fact, there are three bills pending to weaken the law.

Instead of weakening the law we should strengthen the law, and it’s time smoking was banned in the casinos.

Indoor smoking will soon be dead in all 50 states

The dirty dozen has shrank to the smoky seven, but a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says all 50 states could have smoke-free worksites, restaurants and bars by 2020 if current trends continue.

As Michigan approaches the first anniversary of May 1 when the popular workplace smoking ban went into effect, only Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming have no restrictions in place.

The CDC projection is based on the rate at which states have been passing laws to protect people from second-hand smoke over the past decade. Over that time period, 25 states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws banning smoking in all three of those venues.

According to the report, secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths among U.S. nonsmoking adults each year.

In December of last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Regina M. Benjamin issued the strongest report ever on smoking and secondhand smoke: “A Report of the Surgeon General: How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease - The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease.” The 30th Surgeon General Report on smoking since the landmark 1964 Surgeon General's report that first linked smoking to lung cancer confirmed what many other peer revived studies have shown; that as little as one cigarette a day, or even just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette, could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death.

The CDC report confirms that, saying “Smoke-free laws substantially improve indoor air quality, reduce SHS exposure and related health problems among nonsmokers, help smokers quit, change social norms regarding the acceptability of smoking, and reduce heart attack and asthma hospitalizations.”

The smoking ban in Michigan has been a success, despite the hysterical cries of pro-smoking groups like the Michigan Restaurant Association and the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association that it would harm business, and the fact is it has done the opposite. It’s now time to take the next step and ban smoking in casinos.

The problem is that bill has not yet been introduced. It’s really sad that the only bills currently pending in the Michigan Legislature addressing smoking just carve out more exceptions and attempts to weaken the law.

The first assault on the popular and effective workplace smoking is launched

With the start of the 96th Michigan Legislature two weeks ago, the assault on the popular and effective workplace smoking ban has already begun.

Like the last legislative session, Rep. Doug Geiss, D-Taylor, reintroduced a bill to weaken the popular smoking ban that went into effect on May 1. The bill he reintroduced would turn back the clock to ineffective smoking sections, and the bill would allow bars to have “legal smoking rooms.”

Geiss introduced House Bill 4127 on Thursday, and it was referred to the House Committee on Regulatory Reform where it is awaiting action.

This is the same bill he tried last session that died in committee, but two facts stand in the way of passage this time around: the first is that at the beginning of the year, the U.S. Navy Submarine force, with the most sophisticated air exchange and purification system in the world, announced that it will ban all smoking on its submarine fleet because there are unacceptable levels of secondhand smoke in the atmosphere of a submerged submarine, and last month the U.S. Surgeon General issued a report that said “just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death.”

The fact that the smoking ban actually increased business in bars and restaurants, as evidenced by sales tax collections in restaurants and bars that were up 2.84 percent over last year, was just a bonus.

Geiss and bar owners tried to sneak this past the many supporters of the ban with a stealth campaign, but supporters caught wind of it and flooded the committee hearing room last November leading the committee chair not to take it up.

Despite the huge turnover in the Legislature because of term limits, there are 10 members of the Regulatory Reform Committee who were in the House when the bill making the smoking bill law was approved in December 2009. Of those 10, six voted for the ban, including the chair of the committee, Rep. Hugh Crawford, R-Novi.

Based on that, I don’t see this bill as having much of a chance, but based on past experience, vigilance is the word.

This probably will not be the only and last assault on the ban that took years of hard work to enact, and the pro-smoking lobby is hoping a new Republican Governor and Republican control of the Michigan House and Senate can win exceptions or kill the popular, bipartisan workplace smoking ban.

The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA), notorious for using false and debunked information to try and make its case, is again pushing hard to undo the ban.

We need to fight back with the facts.

Lobbyist press release passed off as news spins the effect of the smoking ban

It’s expected that trade groups and lobbyists will spin the facts, but we don’t expect the conservative mainstream media to do it.

We saw an example of that in the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus on Wednesday when they did a story on the effect of the recently enacted popular workplace smoking ban on bars and restaurants. The story looked like little more than a press release from the Michigan Restaurant Association (MRA) – a staunch opponent of the ban - with some quotes thrown in from local bar and restaurant owners to localize a press release.

The story, called, “Bar, lottery sales down after May 1,” is, apparently, based on a report from the Michigan Department of Treasury released last month called “Early Impact of Michigan’s Smoking Ban.” However, it spins the facts to make it look like the ban has hurt business when the fact is it has increased it.

The analysis of tax receipts found that overall sales tax collections – and hence sales - in restaurants and bars were up 2.84 percent over last year when the ban went into effect on May 1 to September. But the MRA/LCP spun it as liquor sales fell 3.1 percent, and that was just from on premises liquor sales.

True, but the fact is more people spent money in bars and restaurants after the ban went into effect, Now, that may be important, but the most important thing is that the U.S. Surgeon General also issued a report last month that found that as little as one cigarette a day, or even just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette, could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death.

The fact is sales in neighborhood taverns that only sell booze fell by just 1.57 percent, a far cry from the false claims of a 60 percent drop and bars closing. Club lottery sales fell 13.7 percent after the ban. That can be attributed to the slow recovery from the Bush recession here in Michigan, as well as at least two – that I know of – highly publicized boycotts of Michigan Lottery games. The amount of free earned media that they received about the boycotts was ridiculous.

Another false claim by the pro-smoking lobby is that bars are going out of business because of the ban, and as proof they claim the number of liquor licenses that wound up in escrow — an indicator of when establishments shutter or stop serving booze – have increased since the ban. Perhaps a good indicate, but the fact is the exact opposite is true. Treasury officials report the number of liquor licenses that wound up in escrow decreased after the ban went into effect. The number fell over the same period last year, down to 240 from 278.

Here is the real bottom line driving the spin by trade associations, according to the report, the sale of cigarettes fell 5.4 percent after the ban, and that is the only product the 22 percent who still smoke in Michigan are using less of after the ban.

Pro-smoking lobby launches another misguided protest

The pro-smoking lobby refuses to accept facts, the will of the people and the law, and they have planned another ridiculous and vain “protest” set for tonight.

Another fly-by-night Facebook groups is claiming some bar owners - unnamed of course - will break the law and will allow patrons to light up after 9 p.m. tonight, New Years Eve. The pro-smoking lobby is clinging to the absolutely false claim that “60 percent of businesses”… are saying it has hurt their business and ... they're barely able to survive now.”

There has not been a single study that proves bars and restaurants are hurt by smoking bans. But that theory was reinforced here in Michigan when the Michigan Department of Treasury released a report earlier this month that found that overall sales tax collections in restaurants and bars were up 2.84 percent over last year. An increase in business not a decrease.

Not only did the smoking ban not hurt business, it increased it. But, even if it did, this is a public health issue. The fact that it helps sales is just a bonus.

The U.S. Surgeon General issued another report earlier this month on the dangers and harm of smoking and secondhand smoke, that said as little as one cigarette a day, or even just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette, could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death.

Not only does the smoking ban need to stay as it is, it needs to be expanded to include the gaming floor - the only exceptions to the ban - of the Detroit casinos.

So, if you see some inconsiderate idiot breaking the law, politely ask him to stop. If that doesn’t work, complain to the manager or the owner. If that doesn’t work, contact the Michigan Department of Community Health or your local health department or public health and file a formal complaint.

Bars that violate the ban face a $100 fine for the first offense and a $500 fine for subsequent violations up to the loss of their liquor license.

Overall sales tax collections in restaurants and bars are up after smoking ban

Workplace smoking bans have never hurt business, and a report released Monday from the state Department of Treasury proves that, and it found that overall sales tax collections in restaurants and bars were up 2.84 percent over last year.

The workplace smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants went into effect on May 1, and despite the down economy in the country, tax receipts are up. This reflects the results from the 38 other states that have bans, and there has never been a credible study that shows a drop in business from a smoking ban. There has never been a reliable, peer-reviewed study or results that can show how less than 25 percent of the population who still smoke can have such an effect on business.

The simple fact is that this report is evidence that concerns about an alleged adverse economic impact from the popular smoking ban were exaggerated.

Now, critics of the ban that have used debunked studies in the past, like the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association, and the MLBA has seized on the fact that, according to the Free Press, "sales tax collections also declined in neighborhood taverns, by 1.57 percent in 2010. “

In an economy that is just coming out of a recession with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, a 1.57 percent decrease in a small segment of the bar and restaurant industry isn’t bad. It certainly can’t, but will, be blamed on the smoking ban. However, the simple fact is that business is up in the bar and restaurant industry.

Even if bars and restaurants did not show an increase in sales because of the smoking ban, the U.S. Surgeon General report issued earlier this month that found that as little as one cigarette a day, or even just inhaling smoke from someone else's cigarette, could be enough to cause a heart attack and even death is more than enough to justify the smoking ban.

Another study proves secondhand smoke kills

Another study, this one worldwide, reinforces the more than 20 year-old scientific fact that secondhand smokes kill non-smokers and causes numerous diseases and ailments.

Last week an international research study by the World Health Organization found that secondhand smoke kills more than 600,000 non-smokers and millions more get sick each year from secondhand smoke.

The study was based on data obtained from 192 countries and was published last week in the British medical journal The Lancet. The good news for Michigan, and the more than 37 other states with workplace smoking ban, is that the proper enforcement of smoking bans worldwide would greatly eliminate the risk of secondhand smoke in places such as bars and restaurants by 90 percent.

This news comes on the heels of a Detroit Free Press story trying to blame
a 25 percent drop in attendance and revenue at bingo parlors and charity card games in the most recent quarter on the popular workplace smoking ban that went into effect on May 1 instead of the real drop in disposable income.

The fact remains that there is no credible evidence or study that indicates a workplace smoking ban hurts business. In fact, the opposite is true. There is, however, plenty of antidotal evidence supported by nothing, like the observation of George Saroki, 63, of Commerce Township, who mistakenly thinks he has the right to light up anywhere he wants to.

“Saroki said he has to leave the poker room and walk outside to have a cigarette, a trip that could take five minutes.”

Wow. Five whole minutes. Well then, I can see he has a right to endanger the health of the 80 percent of non-smokers.

But Don Wawrzyniak, who runs the most lucrative charity poker room in Michigan at Snooker's in Utica, has never allowed smoking at the table and has seen no drop in business.

“Wawrzyniak said players never were allowed to smoke at the card tables and had to be a few steps away to light up anyway. Since the ban, they now walk about 50 feet to the front door, where they can smoke on the sidewalk out front.”
"We've got more families coming in now," Wawrzyniak said. "So far this year, we've raised $1.2 million for charity."

Pro-smokers hope to kill popular smoking ban in new Legislative session

The most credit you can give this shrill of the tobacco industry is that they are persistent.

Lance Binoniemi, the lobbyist for the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA) , is hoping that a new Republican Governor and Republican control of the Michigan House and Senate can win exceptions of the popular, bipartisan workplace smoking ban passed last December, according to a story in subscription only Gongwer.

That seems unlikely because a new study by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) found more than 70 percent of Michigan residents were in support of the smokefree air law, but bar owners who think a drop in business because of the Bush recession is the fault of the ban refuse to quit.

One Democratic State Representative tried to stealthy get a bill through that would basically kill the ban, but supporters of the ban found out and flooded the lawmakers on the committee considering the bill with calls and letters. The MLBA has used debunked studies in the past that say smoking bans hurt business and cost jobs, but that is simply not true.

House Bill 4377 passed overwhelmingly and with bipartisan support, but the MLBA is hoping the new leadership that voted against the bill last December will be friendly to amending the bill next session that begins on Jan. 4. Not likely.

Incoming Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, was one of the 13 Senators voting no against 24 yes votes. It passed overwhelmingly in the House with a 75-30 vote, but incoming Speaker of the House, Rep. James Bolger, R-Marshall, voted with the losers.

It is very unlikely something that passed with 70 percent of the vote will be revisited, and the fact is as time goes on the bans already in place in 37 other states become more popular and accepted.

In fact, Gongwer cited the example of South Dakota as proof. The state has had a ban since 2002, but in 2009 they extended the ban to bars, restaurants and casinos. Pro-smokers fought back and placed it on the ballot on Nov. 2. Voters there overwhelmingly approved the full ban, 64 percent to 36 percent.

Just in case, contact Richardville and Bolger to let them know there is a reason the ban is so popular.

Senator Randy Richardville
P.O. Box 30036
Lansing, MI 48909-7536
Phone: (517) 373-3543
Fax: (517) 373-0927
Email: senrichardville@senate.michigan.gov


Rep. James Bolger
P.O. Box 30014
Lansing, MI 48933
Phone: (517) 373-1787
Toll Free: 877-BOLGER-1
JamesBolger@house.mi.gov

However, those phone numbers and are only good through the end of the year.

Butt out at the 35th Annual Great American Smokeout

Put out those butts and join the 80 percent of Michigan residents who do not endanger their health on the occasion of the American Cancer Society’s 35th Annual Great American Smokeout today.

The ACS is encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By doing so, smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk. Quitting smoking is not easy, - I can personally attest to that, but it can be done. To have the best chance of quitting successfully, you need to know what you're up against, what your options are, and where to go for help.

An estimated 46 million adults in the United States currently smoke, and approximately half will die prematurely from smoking. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for men and women and more than 80 percent of lung cancers are thought to result from smoking. Smoking causes nearly one in five deaths from all causes.

The American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout event grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, MA, in which Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state's first D-Day, or Don't Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on Nov. 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. The first national Great American Smokeout was held in 1977.

During the next 34 years the Smokeout was celebrated with rallies, parades, stunts, quitting information, and even "cold turkey" menu items in schools, workplaces, Main Streets, and legislative halls throughout the US.

The Great American Smokeout has been chaired by some of America's most popular celebrities, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Edward Asner, Natalie Cole, Larry Hagman, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, the first "spokespud" Mr. Potato Head, and many others.

November also marks the six month anniversary of smokefree air in Michigan when the ban on smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants, went into effect on May 1.

Despite lame attempts to weaken and kill the ban, it is both very successful and popular. In fact, the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) just released a survey of 6,900 Michigan residents within 76 Michigan counties on their opinions about the new smokefree air law, and more than 70 percent were in support of the smokefree air law. These results show an increase of public support in comparison to results of a 2009 CSA poll that showed 66 percent of Michigan residents were in favor of smokefree air laws.

In addition, more than 80 percent surveyed agreed that secondhand smoke was a serious health threat to non-smokers. Notably, more than 85 percent of participants stated that they dine out just as much or more often than they did before Michigan’s smokefree air law took effect.

Despite claims and attempts by some bar owners to ignore the law, those criminals are in the minority. The study also monitored the number of complaints reported within the first six months of the law. Results showed just over 550 complaints were made about smoking in smokefree places. This is significantly less than our neighboring state, Ohio, where more than 30,000 complaints were received in the first year of its smokefree air law.

MDCH also monitored compliance of the law in restaurants, bars and bowling alleys throughout the state, and they found that 95 percent of these businesses were compliant with the law.

Supporters of smoking ban kill attempt to weaken it

LANSING -- The members of the Tobacco Free Michigan Coalition proved that calls, letters and emails to their lawmakers work.

On Wednesday the House Regulatory Reform Committee met to stealthy take up House Bill 5803 that would have rolled back the hard fought and hard won workplace smoking ban. The coalition somehow learned that this bill would be taken up, and it urged its members with an email alert late Tuesday evening to contact the members of the committee and tell them not to take up this bill.

When I got to the hearing room at noon on Wednesday, it was packed with supporters of the ban and apparently bar owners. The agenda, even on the day of the hearing, simply said "Agenda to be announced." every committee meeting I have ever seen has the bills listed it will consider, and at the bottom is the throw away line that says "any other matters to come before the committee."

Obviously, the bill sponsor, Rep. Doug Geiss, D-Taylor, knew the bill was going to be taken up because he packed the room with bar owners. Fortunately, the supporters of the ban found out about it and derailed it.

As soon as the meeting began, the committee chair said he knew that so many people were here for the smoking issue, but he was not going to take up the bill. With that, Geiss got up and left, followed by the entire right side of the room.

Since I had no idea what they were taking up, I followed them. There was not room in the first elevator, so as I waited for second, elevator, I listened, with clinched teeth, as they vented with the same old debunked crap.

Once in the lobby of the House Office Building, Geiss was huddled with the bar owners. This bears watching, but I see little chance of it getting traction with just three session days left, at least in the Senate.

Bill in committee attempts to turn back the clock on the workplace smoking bill

It appears that the House Regulatory Reform Committee is going to consider a bill similar to the “pay to kill” compromise on Wednesday that the Conference Committee soundly rejected back in December 2008 that that will weaken the newly passed workplace smoking ban.

Tobacco Free Michigan issued an urgent alert late this afternoon that the Committee will take up House Bill 5803, sponsored by Rep. Doug Geiss, D-Taylor, that will take us back to the unhealthy way things were prior to May 1 when the workplace smoking ban went into effect with “legal smoking rooms.”

The bill will take us back to smoking sections, as long as the space is completely enclosed and it has a “separate ventilation or air filtration system designed to remove smoke from the air in the room and prevent smoke from infiltrating into the nonsmoking areas.”

Ironically, when the very same committee was taking testimony on the workplace smoking ban back in March 2009, Dr. Greg Holzman, the medical officer from the Michigan Department of Community Health (DCH), testified that there has been no ventilation system that clears out secondhand smoke, and that there is no safe amount of secondhand smoke.

Not only that, but back in April the U.S. Navy announced that it will ban all smoking on its submarine fleet by the end of the year, saying “Recent testing has proven that, despite our atmosphere purification technology, there are unacceptable levels of secondhand smoke in the atmosphere of a submerged submarine.”

Submarines have the most sophisticated air purification system ever invented, and it banned smoking. What bar or restaurant can equal that kind of technology?

The committee will meet at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 10 in room 326 of the Anderson House Office Building, in downtown Lansing. The meetings are open to the public, so please show up to show your support for keeping the smoking ban intact.

This had to be a last minute thing because there is no agenda listed for the committee, like every other committee. This bill has little chance of becoming law. It has to pass the committee, be approved by the House and then go through the same process in the Senate.

The Senate is unlikely to take it up, because the Senate Majority Leader is taking next month off, and there is no lame duck session.Regardless, contact Geiss to let him know how anti-health the bill is. He can be reached at:
Phone: 517-373-0852
Fax: 517-373-5934
Email: douglasageiss@house.mi.gov

If you can’t make the hearing, contact the members of the Regulatory Reform Committee to tell them to reject this attempt to weaken the smoking ban:

Chair Rep. Bert Johnson
Phone: (517) 373-0144Fax: (517) 373-8929
Email: bertjohnson@house.mi.gov

Vice-Chair Rep. Harold Haugh
Phone: (517) 373-0854Fax: (517) 373-5911
Email: HaroldHaugh@house.mi.gov

Rep. Pam Byrnes
Phone: (517) 373-0828Fax: (517) 373-5783
Email: pambyrnes@house.mi.gov

Rep. Tim Melton
Phone: (517) 373-0475Fax: (517) 373-5061
Email: timmelton@house.mi.gov

Rep. Bettie Cook Scott
Phone: (517) 373-1776Fax: (517) 373-8502
Email: bettiecookscott@house.mi.gov

Rep. Woodrow Stanley
Phone: (517) 373-8808Fax: (517) 373-5997
Email: WoodrowStanley@house.mi.gov

Rep. Jon M. Switalski
Phone: (517) 373-1772Fax: (517) 373-5906
Email: JonSwitalski@house.mi.gov

Rep.Tory Rocca
Phone: (517) 373-7768
Email: ToryRocca@house.mi.gov

Rep. Hugh Crawford
Phone: (517) 373-0827
Email: HughCrawford@house.mi.gov

Rep. Rick Jones
Phone: (517) 373-0853
Email: RickJones@house.mi.gov

Rep. Jim Stamas
Phone: (517) 373-1791
Email: JimStamas@house.mi.gov

Smoking bans have immediate benefits to health

We already know the health damage caused by secondhand smoke and the immediate positive effects of a workplace smoking ban like the one enacted in May in Michigan, but just for good measure, a study in Scotland that looked at asthma-related hospitalizations of kids found that smoke-free laws have even greater health benefits than previously believed.

The results of the new study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this week that looked at asthma-related hospitalizations of kids, and they found that the rate fell 13 percent a year after smoking was barred in 2006 from workplaces and public buildings, including bars and restaurants.

According to the AP story, “earlier U.S. studies, in Arizona and Kentucky, reached similar conclusions. But this was the largest study of its kind -- and offered the strongest case that smoking bans can bring immediate health improvements for many people.”

We already know that other studies have shown an immediate the decline in adult heart attack rates after smoking bans were adopted, but this study showed cigarette smoke is a trigger for asthma attacks.

With all of this proof, we need to eliminate the exceptions to the smoking ban, like in the non-Native American casinos.

Majority of restaurants doing fine with smoking ban

According a survey trumpeted and conducted by the less than honest Michigan Restaurant Association (MRA), 42.4 percent of its members say their business has decreased since the workplace smoking ban went into effect on May 1.

The MRA and the Michigan Licensed Beverage Association (MLBA) have in the past floated debunked studies to make a point, so I would take this with a grain of salt. But what has been missed is that a majority, 57.4 percent, have shown an increase in sales or no change in sales since the ban went into effect three months ago.

The survey found 14.8 percent reported an increase in sales since the ban went into effect while 43 percent of restaurant operators reported no change in sales since the ban was implemented. With only 20.4 percent of the Michigan population, it’s hard to impossible to see how they can have much of an effect on any business, other than the tobacco industry.

The real bonus is that the public and employees have been protected from deadly secondhand smoke and this has always been a public health issue. Even though the media buried the lead on this one, they have been doing an excellent job in reporting how poplar the ban is with 75 percent of Michigan residents supporting it and how well bars and restaurant are doing.

Emily Palsrok, spokeswoman for Campaign for Smokefree Air, summed it up nicely.

"Michigan residents have been overwhelming supportive and pleased with the new smoke-free air law,” she said. “We stand firmly behind our research and data that smoke-free air is good for business and good for our health."

American Legion Post breaks the law they vowed to uphold

In my 20 year Navy career, I never once thought that service made me above the law or that I didn’t have to follow the laws of the state or nation; someone should tell that to the members of American Legion Post 444 in Baraga at the base of the Keweenaw Bay in the Upper Peninsula.

They are breaking the state’s workplace smoking ban that includes bars and restaurants that went into effect on May 1, making the ridiculous claim that deadly secondhand is “what freedom looks like,” according to auxiliary post member Anita Shepard. No, it’s what flouting and disregarding the law looks like.

Post spokesman Joseph O'Leary claims its “not about the smoking, It's about the right to choose to allow the use of a legal substance on our property.“ No, the workplace smoking ban is a public health issue, and it’s about protecting the 80 percent of the population who choose not to endanger their health.

This is not the first time military veterans have made the claim that their service has earned them the right to ignore the law. Even before the law went into effect, American Legion posts and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) posts launched a petition drive with the claim that the law didn’t apply to them.

Even military leaders have long recognized the harmful effects of smoking, both first and secondhand smoke, and they banned it on ships some 20 years ago. Just last spring the U.S. Navy banned smoking on submarines, despite having the most advanced atmosphere purification technology in the world.

But the post in Baraga has gone farther than anyone in breaking the law, and Post Commander Rick Geroux issued a notice to members and employees that he thinks his post is above the law and would not follow it.

According to reporter Dawson Bell, “several citizen complaints were filed about the post's noncompliance, and local health officials sent notices of violation. Geroux responded with a news release July 16 that described the new law as unconstitutional and un-American.”

That is just per BS. I challenge Mr. Geroux to show me where in the Constitution it says you have a right to smoke. The fact is the government has an obligation to protect the public from poison like secondhand smoke and other deadly substances, and if anything it’s un-American not to protect the public from deadly substances.

The article said “several of the elder statesmen point out the government provided the smokes and hooked them on the habit when they were in the service.” That is simply not true. No doubt the military practically encouraged serviceberry to smoke, but over the last couple of decades it has tried to correct that mistake.

Tobacco companies did provide free cigarettes during World War II, but that was as big a PR move as big tobacco spending billions of dollars to convince people they have some kind of constitutional right to smoke. But it was more than PR; it was an investment by hooking millions of young men that earned them billons of dollars over the years, despite the clear scientific proof of the harmful health effects of smoking.

Smoking costs Michigan $3.3 billion in annual health care costs

Chronic diseases, many caused by personal health risk factors like smoking and obesity, are driving high health care expenditures in Michigan and nationally, according to a new report from the Ann Arbor-based Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation.

The report found that average annual spending for a patient with a single chronic condition can range from $3,785 to $38,270 more than spending for people without a chronic condition. Data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan showed that the 35 percent of patients with at least one chronic condition accounted for more than 64 percent of its total spending.

The report goes on to say that “modifiable health risk factors, such as cigarette smoking and overweight/obesity, are responsible for much of the illness, healthcare utilization, and subsequent costs related to chronic disease.”

“This study offers us a credible early warning system. We must work together, at a community level, to reduce drivers of chronic disease,” says Marianne Udow-Philips, director of CHRT. “When we reduce the incidence of chronic disease, we improve the health of the population.”

Michigan’s 20.5 percent smoking rate is higher than the national average of 18.4 percent. Smoking-related illnesses account for $3.3 billion in annual health care expenditures. I have been using 22 percent as the Michigan smoking rate. Perhaps now opponents of the workplace smoking ban can tell me how just 20.5 percent of the Michigan population can account for a bar allegedly losing 40-50 percent of their business.

Michigan has a higher rate of obesity at 29.5 percent than the U.S. average of 26.7 percent. In fact, in 2008, Michigan was 9th highest in the U.S. of the percentage of adults who are obese.

Udow points to the newly approved federal Affordable Care Act, where there are dollars tagged for public health improvement, to reduce drivers of chronic disease, and it will reduce the incidence of chronic disease and improve the health of the population.

“We can work together in Michigan to use these funds toward strategies that have been proven to work,” Udow said.

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) is a non-profit partnership between the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Housed at the University of Michigan. CHRT sponsors research and public information to promote evidence based care delivery, improve population health, expand access to care and to test the best ideas for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the health care system.

Workplace smoking ban has widespread support in Michigan

Just over 75 percent of Michigan residents are in favor of the recently passed workplace smoking ban, and 88 percent thought that secondhand smoke was a serious health threat to nonsmokers, according to a statewide survey conducted by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) Tobacco Section between March 1 and April 23.

The nine question survey assessed knowledge about secondhand smoke, knowledge of the law, support for the law, and behavior change related to the law; specifically whether participants would eat out more often if smoking was prohibited in bars and restaurants.The survey was distributed to clients receiving services at local health departments in 80 of Michigan’s 83 counties and through 8 agencies serving populations disparately affected by tobacco use, and it included 10,030 participants.

The smoking rate in Michigan is around 22 percent and falling, and that seems to be confirmed by the 25 percent who were not in favor of the law. The survey was conducted before the law went into effect on May 1, and overall, 89 percent of those surveyed reported that they would go out to eat more often or no change if smoking was prohibited in restaurants and bars. That seems to be reflected in the fact that bars and restaurants are doing well, despite the Bush recession and cries of wolf from bar owners.

However, the same survey will be conducted again next month in August, and the results of the pre- and post-law implementation surveys will be compared.

The Livingston County Department of Public Health (LCDPH) was one of the participating agencies, and they reported similar results, with less people here supporting the ban. The survey found just 63 percent favored the law, and only 79 percent know that secondhand smoke is deadly and causes a variety of diseases.

Like most places, there have been few complaints about the ban, and people are accepting it, with the exception of a few misguided people.

“The implementation of the state smoke-free air law has been relatively smooth,” said Jennifer Lavelle, Health Education Supervisor for the LCDPH. “We’ve received very few complaints so far, and businesses are complying with the requirements of the law.”

GOP Senate candidate envisions black helicopter coming for his handgun

HOWELL -- Republican candidate for the 22nd State Senate District Joe Hune has drunk so much tea lately that he thinks a black helicopter from the UN is coming for his gun.

Hune and his opponent in the Aug. 3 GOP primary, Howell City Councilman Paul Rogers, squared off in a debate Thursday night sponsored by the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus. It’s tradition to play to the base in a primary election, but Hune has gone off the rails in his mad sprint to the right. He apparently is now subscribing to the philosophy of the Michigan Militia.

The seat is open because of term limits, and the winner of the Aug. 3 primary will face off against Democrat Chuck Fellows of Green Oak Township.

“There are conversations going on today at the U.N. (United Nations) to turn that (2nd Amendment) right over to the U.N,” Hune said.

Basically, Hune tried to go as far to the right as possible, by saying no to any and every possible tax increase and throwing out every single talking point and applause line that gets teabaggers fired up. Hune has been seen at many extremist “tea parties.” He calls taxes that pay for the roads, our police and fire, parks and his salary “stealing.”

“I’m a conservative; both socially and fiscally,” Hune said. “Lansing needs to rein in spending. We need to get government out of the way.”

That’s just ridiculous. The fact is tax cuts are not the solution, and if it were we would not be in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Michigan has cut taxes continuously in both good times and bad times, and taxes have been cut 30 times since 1993. Michigan has less state government employees now than it did in 1973.

Rogers, a businessman and former Howell Mayor, also played to the base, but he also said Lansing has been broken for the last 10 years. The fact is Hune was in Lansing for six years – four of those when his party controlled both the House and Senate – and has nothing to show for it and no solutions.
The debate was an unusual format, and it resembled a newspaper editorial endorsement interview. The paper’s publisher and news editor asked questions and then as many follow ups to get a straight answer. That was difficult with Hune, who stuck to his talking points and teabagger applause lines, like his response to gay marriage.

“Marriage is between a man and a woman. Period," he said. "Period; I don't need to explain further."

He stuck to that talking point even when he was asked what was a bigger threat to his marriage: no fault divorce laws or gay marriage.

Predictably, both candidates were against the historic health care insurance reform bill passed in March that will give 32 million Americans life saving health coverage and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says cuts the deficit by $130 billion in the first 10 years. However, after much discussion they conceded Americans should have access to health care, but they never defied what access meant.

Hune has bashed state workers at every opportunity, and he didn’t disappoint last night. He ignored the fact that state employees took six unpaid days off to help make up the deficit last year and we also have less state employees now than we had in 1973. State employees have made concessions that have saved the state more than $3.7 billion since 2001.

Michigan spends more for prisons than it does for higher education because Michigan’s incarceration rates were the 2nd highest in the 12-state Midwest region, and our rate is the 11th highest in the nation. Instead of addressing why that’s the case and look at reforming sentencing guidelines, Hune wants to privatize Michigan’s prisons.

“No one wants to use the word privatize,” he said.

Both candidates said they would not vote for the film incentive package passed overwhelmingly by the Legislature in March of 2008, but when Hune was asked why he voted for it, he tried to claim he didn’t know or understand the package included a tax rebate. Is he serous? He’s either lying or doesn’t read very well, but it was clear in the testimony in committee that it included a rebate. Howell has been the beneficiary of some film production, and Rogers acknowledged that.

“I don’t think I would have voted for it in its current form, but the film industry is worth having,” he said.

Both candidates tried to out conservative each other, coming out against issues that have a lot of support. But Hune clearly won that dubious honor. Hune came out against a graduated income tax despite the fact that a majority of Michigan residents support it, according to a poll by EPIC/MRA for the Detroit News, WXYZ, WOOD, WILX and WJRT television stations.

Both are against the popular workplace smoking ban passed last December. Both supported the package of bills introduced by Sen. Tom George, R-Kalamazoo, to place restrictions on stem cell research that critics have said places so many restrictions on stem cell research that it will effectively kill it. George was the chief spokesman for the opponents of Ballot Proposal 2 that will allow embryonic stem cell research and was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 2008, and the bills are his way to kill it.

Hune went so far as to say the voters were full of crap, and he is so anti-choice he doesn’t think it should be allowed at all.

Russia fighting back against smoking addiction

We know that smoking and secondhand smoke kills and causes numerous diseases and afflictions, and that has led to a smoking rate of less than 22 percent in the U.S. and workplace smoking bans in 38 states.

That has led tobacco companies to market their deadly products to Third World countries and other countries with no restrictions on advertising to children. One such country is Russia, where 60 percent of Russian men smoke and the number of smokers, particularly among young women, has been growing since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, according to a story in Reuters.

But Russian officials are fighting back, and they are slapping "smoking kills" warnings on cigarette packages “in an effort to crack down on an addiction (that) kills up to 500,000 people a year and is on the rise.” “The anti-smoking message will cover no less than 30 percent of the front of a package and another warning takes half of the back. The messages range from warnings of lung cancer through wrinkles to impotence and will also come with information on the amount of nicotine and resins.”

Russia has been a lifesaver for tobacco companies, and it remains one of the top tobacco clients, “with the domestic market almost completely taken by three global players: Japan Tobacco Inc., Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco PLC.”

The Russian Parliament is fighting back with an awareness campaign, and increasing taxes on cigarettes.

Another boycott to kill popular smoking ban launched

A boycott of the Michigan lottery by a few misguided bar owners last month failed, so they are trying it again this Saturday, July 10.

The billons of dollars the tobacco industry has spent over the years to convince smokers that they have some constitutional right to smoke and poison the majority of non-smokers with deadly secondhand smoke continues to pay off.

Just like the June 19 attempt at a boycott, a mall group of bar owners is claiming that 22 percent of the people who still smoke in Michigan is having an effect on their business, despite studies and the results of bars and restaurants that are doing a booming business after the May 1 workplace smoking ban went into effect and numerous studies and results from the 38 other states with bans.

Like last month, a few bar owners will refuse to sell Michigan Lottery games from 11 a.m. Saturday, July 10 to 2 a.m. July 11. Like last month, they have a Facebook page full of lies, and they say they will not sell “Keno, pull tabs, Lucky Lines, Daily 3 and 4, Fantasy 5, and Classic Lotto.”

Those lies have extended to the Detroit News. Why they are giving this small minority so much free, earned media is beyond me. They should sell them an ad because the majority of Michigan residents support the workplace smoking ban.

According to the Detroit News, “A group called “Protect Private Property Rights in Michigan -- Amend the Michigan Smoking Ban” is calling for a second boycott of the lottery in bars across the state to “send a message to legislators about a law they say is keeping customers away.”

Not true. Bars and restaurants are doing fine. No one can tell me how less than 22 percent can have so much of an effect on business.

It also says, “the first boycott was June 19 and was for only a few hours. This weekend's boycott is all day Saturday and Sunday just like it was on June 19. The hours are identical.

Apparently, Beverly Hills resident Steve Mace is their spokesman. You may remember him from the American Legion Post in Royal Oak where he claimed “their reading of the state bill prohibiting smoking in public areas and workplaces such as restaurants and bars does not apply to private clubs.” He was behind a petition drive to exempt veteran’s clubs from the law.

"We're not promoting cigarette use -- ban smoking on a street corner, not in an adult-only establishment," said group spokesman Steve Mace.

That is stunningly inaccurate. Of course he’s promoting cigarette use. Non-smokers drink just as much as smokers, and my experience when I was a smoker was that when I was in a bar, my smoking rate doubled, at least, but my alcohol intake stayed the same as when I quit smoking. Smoke all you want on the street corner where deadly secondhand smoke is not harming the health of the 80 percent who do not smoke.

That’s just one of many false claims by these people. Last month they claimed the ridiculous boycott would cost the state lottery “between $12 million and $18 million in sales.” After the boycott, they were very silent. Now, they told the Detroit News, an “estimated 515 establishments joined the first boycott, based on e-mail and phone requests for protest fliers, and expects nearly 600 this time.”

The numbers simply do not bear that out, and they are again caught in a lie.

In fact, Lottery spokeswoman Andi Brancato said “about 220 retailers -- 2 percent of all Michigan lottery vendors -- turned off their lottery machines June 19 and revenue losses amounted to about $125,700.” That’s a far cry from 515 retailers and $12 million. The good news is that Brancato said “bars participating in both boycotts may face suspension or revocation of their licenses.” Good.

The Facebook page announcing the event has even more lies, like the one that says, “ JOBS ARE BEING LOST. BUSINESSES ARE CUTTING HOURS!! SOME ARE ALREADY UP FOR SALE!”

Not from the smoking ban.

Then there is this lie that it will not hurt Michigan public schools:
“**The Michigan Lottery's contributions to schools are so minimal, don't buy into that line. No one really knows where the money goes and they're not saying. YOUR TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR SCHOOLS.”

Again, not true. The Michigan Lottery has contributed $15.2 billion to Michigan's educational system since 1972, including more than $600 million in 10 of the past 12 fiscal years. Almost all of the money, 95 percent to be exact, goes to fund K-12 public education, and the rest goes to overhead and the pots. Unfortunately, lottery money only makes up 5 percent of the $12.8 billon K-12 budget. The required annual report makes it very clear where the money goes.

So even if you are not a fan of the lottery or gambling, stop by on Saturday and pluck a dollar down on Keno, pull tabs, Lucky Lines, Daily 3 and 4, Fantasy 5 or Classic Lotto to help Michigan’s health and public schools. You can always give the ticket to a friend or relative.

Bill to do away with casino exception to smoking ban introduced

As promised, the next battle against deadly secondhand smoke got underway today when Sen. Ray Basham, D-Taylor, introduced Senate Bill 1406 that will do away with an exception for casinos to the popular workplace smoking ban that went into effect on May 1.

SB 1046 would make the Detroit casinos smoke-free and extend to casino workers the same protection bar and restaurant patrons and employees enjoy from secondhand smoke. Basham has been fighting for the health of Michigan workers for more than a decade, and he was a key figure in helping pass legislation that took effect in May to make the state’s bars and restaurants smoke-free.

“Secondhand smoke doesn’t make any exceptions or exemptions, and Michigan law shouldn’t either,” Basham said. “The Legislature finally took action to protect patrons and workers in the state’s bars and restaurants from secondhand smoke exposure, and the men and women who work in the state’s casinos should be extended the same consideration for their safety.”

According to surveys, nearly two-thirds of Michigan voters support a workplace ban that includes bars and restaurants. Michigan became the 38th state to protect its workers from deadly secondhand smoke exposure. South Dakota, Montana, Vermont, Nebraska and Louisiana have strengthened their laws even further to make their workplaces, including restaurants, bars and gaming areas, 100 percent smoke-free. Data from the New York City Department of Finance shows that their tax receipts increased after the city went smoke-free, and there was also significant job growth in its bars and restaurants.

The predictions of a drop in business were not only false, but many bars and restaurants actually reporting an increase in business after the law went into effect.
Last summer air quality testing (AQT) conducted in Detroit’s three casinos revealed indoor pollution levels that were eight times higher than outdoor air, debunking the claim casino operators made in committee hearings on the smoking ban that their ventilation systems should earn them an exception to the workplace smoking ban.

When House Bill 4377 was approved with a bipartisan vote last December that made the Dr. Ron M. Davis Act law, a compromise exempted Detroit’s three casinos and so-called cigar bars because some people falsely believed the propaganda that a smoking ban would harm business. The success of the ban disproved that. Some critics of this public health issue pointed to the casino exception as proof that the smoking ban was not about protecting the health of workers and customers. This bill shoots that argument down.

“Casinos may be a safe-haven for smokers, but they’re like a gas chamber for workers,” Basham said. “Most Michigan bars and restaurants have gone smoke-free without any major uproar or a decrease in business, and have been able to still accommodate smokers without putting their non-smoking patrons and employees in harm’s way. It’s time for our state’s casinos to do the same, and I hope my colleagues in the Legislature will act quickly to pass this legislation.”

Secondhand smoke is the second leading preventable cause of death in the United States, and at least 200,000 workers die every year due to exposure to second-hand smoke at work. In 2006, the Surgeon General concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke and that eliminating smoking from all indoor areas is the only way to fully protect people from secondhand smoke exposure.