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| D.C. Council Candidate Griffiths: Ban Smoking in Workplace. |
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Committee to Elect Arturo Griffiths Friday, April 30, 2004 Contact: Statehood Green candidate Griffiths cites CDC study confirming the danger to public health, with workers at greatest risk. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Arturo Griffiths, candidate for the at-large seat on D.C. City Council, has declared himself on the side of workers concerned about the health risks of second-hand smoke. Mr. Griffiths, noting that May 1 is a traditional celebration of workers' rights, urged Council to pass an ordinance outlawing smoking in D.C. workplaces, including enclosed public spaces such as restaurants and bars. "The presence of cigarette smoke in workplaces is an occupational hazard for many working people," said Mr. Griffiths, who is seeking the nomination of the D.C. Statehood Green Party. "Customers worried about smoke in a restaurant have the option of eating elsewhere, but restaurant workers are constrained to stay and breathe unhealthy air." On April 22, the Centers for Disease Control issued a stern warning about the dangers of second-hand smoke, advising nonsmokers against entering buildings and enclosed spaces where other people are smoking. The CDC noted that even 30 minutes of exposure in a restaurant or an office might be enough to trigger a fatal heart attack for some people who are at risk. Griffiths rejected the proposal by incumbent Council candidate Carol Schwartz (R.-At-Large) to grant tax breaks to restaurants and bars that voluntarily ban smoking. Ms. Schwartz claims that her 'Smoke-Free Workplace Incentive Amendment Act' would encourage business owners in D.C. to be smoke-free. "Ms. Schwartz's bill would convert a serious public health issue and a hazard for employees into a matter of financial convenience for business owners," said Mr. Griffiths. "The bill guarantees no protection for workers. It's like giving landlords a tax break if they promise not to allow someone to dump poison in the plumbing. Carol Schwartz is bad for your health!" Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees (HERE) Local 25, representing about 8000 employees in hotels, restaurants, bars, and meeting venues and a majority of whom are DC residents, has called on D.C. to adopt a smoke-free workplace policy (September 17, 2003 statement of Liz Thorne, President of HERE Local 25 <http://www.smokefreedc.org/breakfast/statement-lthorne.doc>). According to a telephone poll conducted by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids in December 2003, 60% of D.C. residents support a smoking ban for indoor workplaces. The CDC's warning, published in the British Medical Journal, featured a study of Helena, Montana, which banned smoking in all public enclosed spaces in June 2002. During the period in which the ban was in effect, heart attack admissions to the local hospital declined by 40%. After the ban was rescinded six months later, the heart attack rate returned to its former level. An earlier CDC study (February 26, 2004), based on 11 years of quarterly sales tax reports and beverage tax receipts in El Paso, Texas before its smoking ban and a year of receipts since the January 2, 2002 ban, showed that the ban on smoking in public areas and workplaces had no reduction in restaurant and bar revenues. El Paso's population is about the same size as D.C.'s, with 560,000 residents. MORE INFORMATION |
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