Breathe Easy

In 2006 Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect banning indoor smoking within restaurants, bars, and the majority of indoor facilities. The law also includes a ban on smoking within 15 feet of a public place, although according to a tobacco study by Stanford University, 25 feet is the recommended distance to avoid inhalation of second hand smoke. The Clean Indoor Air Act resulted in an estimated 100,000 fewer smokers state-wide and has protected bystanders from the danger of second-hand smoke, according to the Smoke-Free Colorado.org, a Tobacco Free Colorado Communities Initiative. Despite alteration to Colorado law, further action is necessary to fully protect nonsmokers from the harm of second-hand smoke and to prevent exposure to adolescence under the age of 18. Therefore, the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act needs to be extended to include outdoor city and state public areas.

Legal protection is necessary for nonsmokers because exposure to second-hand smoke means exposure to thousands of poisons. The US Surgeon General describes the intake of second-hand smoke through the inhalation of two different smoke sources: mainstream smoke and side stream smoke. Mainstream smoke is generated by the exhalation of the cigarette smoke directly from a smoker that is then inhaled by bystanders. Side stream smoke is the smoke that is released out of the back of a smokers burning cigarette and is inhaled by others. The side stream smoke is produced at lower temperatures and contains higher concentrations of the 7,000 chemicals found in cigarettes. US agencies and programs such as Surgeon General, the Environmental Protection Agency, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the National Toxicology Program have all designated...

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... the rights of non-smokers from the poisonous recreational activity of smoking.

For further information and online petitions visit the American’s for Non-smokers Right’s (ANR) webpage or email [e-mail], Colorado’s Board of Health with general questions. To initiate a legal change and find out how you can get involved contact Rochelle Manchego, Colorado’s program coordinator for the Tobacco Review Committee. Ms. Manchegos number is 303-692-2698 or you can attend a committee meeting on the third Friday of every month from 1:00-4:30 p.m at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) in Denver. “The meetings are open to the public and one can attend in-person or via phone conference.” Help produce a healthy change and protect the people of Colorado by amending Colorado’s Clean Indoor Air Act to include outdoor public areas.