Smoke Free Wisconsin In The News

Facing a historic budget deficit, Wisconsin lawmakers will have to make many difficult decisions this upcoming legislative session, but an easy decision the Legislature should make immediately is to pass a statewide smoke-free law.

Ending workplace smoking in Wisconsin is a cost-free way of improving public health and is a policy more than two-thirds of Wisconsin voters support. If lawmakers are serious about listening to the voters who just elected them, they should pass this public health policy within the first 100 days.

The health benefits of going smoke-free are well documented and undisputed — reduced heart attack rates, lower risk of lung cancer, improved respiratory function — yet Wisconsin workers remain exposed. It's time to take action.

Opponents of this legislation will argue going smoke-free is bad for business, but these concerns are generally unfounded and almost always overblown. Ten Wisconsin communities (including Fond du Lac), as well as Dane County, have now passed strong smoke-free ordinances that include bars and restaurants. These cities join 24 states in passing smoke-free laws, none of which have met economic ruin, but rather have gained improved public health and strong public support for the measure.

A report issued last spring by the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group concluded that, regardless of the variables, smoke-free policies have either a neutral or positive economic impact. That's why business groups like the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, the Wisconsin Tourism Federation and the Wisconsin Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus, among others, are such strong supporters of a smoke-free law.

Nearly a half million people in Wisconsin now live and work in communities with strong smoke-free ordinances; 217,000 of which have been protected just since the end of the last legislative session. Going smoke-free is obviously a health benefit people want and one that needs to be extended to everyone in the state, no exceptions.

Keeping people healthy during tough times should be a top legislative priority and going smoke-free is unquestionably a step in the right direction. Wisconsin cannot afford to keep putting workers' and the public's health at risk when the answer is so simple and costs nothing. The support is there and the time is now.

Please join us in calling on the Legislature to pass comprehensive smoke-free legislation within the first 100 days of the session. It's time!