Mississippians Support

  Smokefree Workplaces 

Comprehensive smokefree air policies are strongly supported by the majority of Mississippians, regardless of ethnicity, geography or political beliefs.

• 80% of Mississippians don’t smoke.
• 76% of Mississippians believe that worksites should be smokefree.
• 81% of all Mississippians believe restaurants should be smokefree.
• 57% of Mississippi smokers support everybody’s right to breathe smokefree air in restaurants.

Secondhand Smoke

and Children

Protect The Children Around You

Never smoke anywhere that children may be present, especially homes, restaurants, vehicles and other indoor or enclosed spaces. Advise friends, relatives and caregivers not to smoke around your child, and help your child steer clear of smoky areas.

Secondhand smoke spreads quickly throughout an entire house or building. So using fans or smoking by a window will not keep children safe. There’s no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Remember, young children can’t protect themselves against secondhand smoke. It’s up to us!

Secondhand smoke can cause serious health problems even before a child is born.

• Babies whose mothers smoke while pregnant and babies who are exposed to secondhand smoke after birth are more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
• Mothers exposed to secondhand smoke while pregnant are more likely to have lower birth weight babies.
• Exposure to secondhand smoke can cause lasting or permanent damage to the developing lungs of unborn and newborn children.

Young children are especially vulnerable to secondhand smoke.

• Because their bodies are developing rapidly, infants and young children are more vulnerable to the poisons in secondhand smoke.
• Children take in more secondhand smoke because they breathe more rapidly than adults.
• Young children often cannot remove themselves from areas where secondhand smoke is present.

Smoking can cause serious health problems in children.

• Secondhand smoke causes respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia in infants and young children.
• Exposure causes children with asthma to experience more frequent and severe attacks.
• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at increased risk for ear infections.

Smokefree Workplaces

There's No Effective Alternative To Smokefree Air

Separating smokers from nonsmokers, using fans, or installing high-tech ventilation and filtration equipment does not eliminate the health risks of secondhand smoke. These approaches are simply not effective. That’s not our opinion. It’s a fact that’s supported by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke is harmful, with immediate adverse effects. The prolonged exposure experienced by many restaurant and bar employees presents even greater risks.

Customers are at risk, as well. Secondhand smoke is known to aggravate asthma attacks in children. An estimated 68,000 children in Mississippi have asthma. As a result, thousands of families cannot dine in restaurants where smoking is allowed.

Widespread Support for a Comprehensive Statewide Policy

A comprehensive statewide policy levels the playing field for all businesses, as compared to the assorted nonsmoking laws currently in place in various communities. And it acknowledges the fact that all Mississippians, regardless of their location or profession, deserve to breathe smokefree air.

Mississippians overwhelmingly support the idea of smokefree workplaces.

• 80% of Mississippians don’t smoke.
• 76% of Mississippians believe that worksites should be smokefree.
• 81% of all Mississippians believe restaurants should be smokefree.
• 57% of Mississippi smokers support everybody’s right to breathe smokefree air in restaurants.

Economics

Economic Impact

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in Mississippi. Every year, thousands of Mississippians die from tobacco-related illnesses and our state’s taxpayers bear much of the burden.

Lost Lives And Wasted Taxpayer Dollars

In addition to the direct costs of treating tobacco-related illnesses, smoking has a negative impact on worker productivity from lost work hours due to illness.

• Treatment of tobacco-related diseases costs Mississippi $264 million each year in direct Medicaid costs.
• For every pack of cigarettes purchased in Mississippi, the state pays $1.04 in direct Medicaid costs.
• Smoking is estimated to cost Mississippi $1.4 billion per year in lost productivity, based on the premature death of workers.

The Bottom Line for Business Owners

In addition to the health risks to employees and customers, eliminating smoking can have many benefits for Mississippi businesses.

• Smokefree policies lower the risk of fires and accidental injuries, which can reduce insurance costs.
• Going smokefree reduces cleaning and maintenance costs and can significantly increase property resale value.
• Smokefree policies reduce potential legal liability. Nonsmokers harmed by secondhand smoke at work have won a number of lawsuits and disability claims against their employers.
• With smokefree policies, workers – both smokers and nonsmokers – become healthier. Healthier workers miss less work, are more productive, and have lower healthcare costs.

Tobacco 101

Tobacco 101

Smoking Cigarettes:

• Cigarettes contain more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, including some found in rat poison, paint thinner, moth balls, fingernail polish remover, lighter fluid and carbon monoxide. In fact, at least 69 are known to be cancer-causing chemicals.
• Studies have found nicotine to be addictive in ways similar to those of heroin, cocaine, and alcohol.
• Teens who smoke produce twice the phlegm as those who do not.
• The addictive drug in all tobacco products is nicotine.
• One pure drop of nicotine will kill an average size adult.

Spit Tobacco:

• Spit tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes.
• Spit tobacco has over 3,000 harmful chemicals; 30 of which are cancer-causing.
• Every 30 minute dip is equal to the damage of 3-4 cigarettes.

Secondhand Smoke

• Secondhand smoke (smoke that comes from the burning end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, and the smoke exhaled by a smoker) causes coughing, colds, earaches, and worsens asthma.
• Secondhand smoke has over 50 cancer-causing carcinogens.
• There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Sitting in a smoke-filled environment for two hours is the equivalent of smoking four cigarettes.
• Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
• Riding in the car with someone smoking is equal to the damage of four cigarettes.

Cigars, Bidis and Kretek use:

• Cigar smoking is the second most common form of tobacco use among youth.
• Like cigarettes, cigars are smoked and contain the same toxic and carcinogenic compounds.
• Cigar smokers can spend up to an hour smoking a single cigar, often consuming as much tobacco as in a full pack of cigarettes.
• Secondhand cigar smoke is often even more harmful and deadly than secondhand cigarette smoke.
• Bidis (a small, thin, hand-rolled cigarette) smoking increases the risk of oral, lung, stomach, and esophageal cancer.
• Kreteks (sometimes referred to as clove cigarettes) are associated with an increased risk of serious lung injury.
• Bidis and kreteks have more nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide than cigarettes.

National Tobacco Facts

• Every 6.5 seconds someone in the world dies of a tobacco-related disease.
• Tobacco kills more people each year than suicides, murders, AIDS, alcohol, drugs and car accidents COMBINED.
• Cigarette smoking accounts for approximately one out of five deaths each year.
• About 50,000 non-smokers in the U.S. die each year as  a result of secondhand smoke.
• In the United States, 1,170 people die from smoking each day.
• This year, tobacco companies will spend $12.8 billion on ads and promotions nationally trying to get people to smoke.

Mississippi Tobacco Facts

• 4,700 Mississippi deaths result each year from smoking
• About 550 non smokers die each year in Mississippi from exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Annual health care costs in Mississippi directly caused by smoking are $719 million.
• In Mississippi alone, tobacco companies spend $185.5 million on ads and promotions each year trying to get people to smoke.

Sources: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Generation FREE, The Mississippi State Department of Health