Governor Doyle Makes Wisconsin Smokefree
MILWAUKEE, GREEN BAY, MADISON – Governor Jim Doyle today signed legislation to make public places, including restaurants, taverns, and other indoor workplaces, smokefree. The Governor was joined at bill-signing events around the state today by business owners, health officials and smokefree Wisconsin advocates.
“It’s time for every person in Wisconsin to breathe freely at restaurants, taverns, and workplaces across the state,” Governor Doyle said. “A smokefree Wisconsin will save money in health care costs, improve public health and save lives. I wish the ban would be implemented sooner, but I am proud the state is embracing the healthy direction the world is going.”
Governor Doyle has fought the scourge of tobacco his entire career. In 2007, he launched a statewide anti-smoking initiative which included a proposal to make all public workplaces smokefree. In addition, he has taken a number of steps to reduce smoking in Wisconsin, including raising the cigarette tax by $1 and dedicating new funds to cessation programs, providing free quit-smoking medications through the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line, and increasing youth tobacco prevention efforts. In 1999, as Attorney General, he negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement for the state with Big Tobacco.
The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line offers free, confidential, non-judgmental coaching and information about how to quit. Research shows smokers who use the Quit Line are four times more likely to quit than if they try to quit on their own. In 2007, there were 13,950 calls to the Quit Line. In 2008, after the cigarette tax was increased by $1 on January 1, there were nearly 41,000 calls. In 2008, adult smoking in Wisconsin reached a record low – 19.6 percent – marking the first time ever below 20 percent.
SB 181, a comprehensive smoking ban, prohibits smoking in workplaces in Wisconsin after July 5, 2010. Existing cigar bars and specialty tobacco shops are grandfathered in and are not required to abide by the ban, but cigar bars or specialty tobacco shops that open after the bill’s effective date would be required to be smoke free. Any person who attempts to violate the ban is issued a first-time warning and will be subject to a $100-250 fine for each subsequent violation. Businesses can establish an outdoor smoking area that cannot be regulated by local governments. Thirty-seven Wisconsin communities have local smoking bans which will remain in place until the statewide ban takes effect.
According to the National Cancer Society, 5,000 kids try their first cigarette every day and 2,000 of them become regular smokers. One-third will eventually die from their addiction. Exposure to second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in America and has been proven to cause lung cancer, heart disease and serious respiratory diseases in nonsmokers. Bar and restaurant workers have a significantly greater risk of dying from lung cancer than the general public due, in part, to their continuous exposure to secondhand smoke at work.
For information on the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW), visit www.ctri.wisc.edu/quitline.
“It’s time for every person in Wisconsin to breathe freely at restaurants, taverns, and workplaces across the state,” Governor Doyle said. “A smokefree Wisconsin will save money in health care costs, improve public health and save lives. I wish the ban would be implemented sooner, but I am proud the state is embracing the healthy direction the world is going.”
Governor Doyle has fought the scourge of tobacco his entire career. In 2007, he launched a statewide anti-smoking initiative which included a proposal to make all public workplaces smokefree. In addition, he has taken a number of steps to reduce smoking in Wisconsin, including raising the cigarette tax by $1 and dedicating new funds to cessation programs, providing free quit-smoking medications through the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line, and increasing youth tobacco prevention efforts. In 1999, as Attorney General, he negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement for the state with Big Tobacco.
The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line offers free, confidential, non-judgmental coaching and information about how to quit. Research shows smokers who use the Quit Line are four times more likely to quit than if they try to quit on their own. In 2007, there were 13,950 calls to the Quit Line. In 2008, after the cigarette tax was increased by $1 on January 1, there were nearly 41,000 calls. In 2008, adult smoking in Wisconsin reached a record low – 19.6 percent – marking the first time ever below 20 percent.
SB 181, a comprehensive smoking ban, prohibits smoking in workplaces in Wisconsin after July 5, 2010. Existing cigar bars and specialty tobacco shops are grandfathered in and are not required to abide by the ban, but cigar bars or specialty tobacco shops that open after the bill’s effective date would be required to be smoke free. Any person who attempts to violate the ban is issued a first-time warning and will be subject to a $100-250 fine for each subsequent violation. Businesses can establish an outdoor smoking area that cannot be regulated by local governments. Thirty-seven Wisconsin communities have local smoking bans which will remain in place until the statewide ban takes effect.
According to the National Cancer Society, 5,000 kids try their first cigarette every day and 2,000 of them become regular smokers. One-third will eventually die from their addiction. Exposure to second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in America and has been proven to cause lung cancer, heart disease and serious respiratory diseases in nonsmokers. Bar and restaurant workers have a significantly greater risk of dying from lung cancer than the general public due, in part, to their continuous exposure to secondhand smoke at work.
For information on the Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line (1-800-QUIT-NOW), visit www.ctri.wisc.edu/quitline.
posted by Cheryl Hentz at 11:15 PM
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