The Smoke-Free Movement

Today, Rich Miller's widely viewed Captiol Fax website highlighted the new TV ads being run in support of Smoke Free Illinois by the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.

A 30 second TV ad can't do justice to Lisa's story of courage and survival. What follows is the written testimony Lisa Christia filed with the Senate Executive Committee earlier this month in support of Smoke Free Illinois. Read Lisa's story, and understand the risks and dangers of secondhand smoke:

LISA CRISTIA, CANCER SURVIVOR
AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY VOLUNTEER
March 7, 2007

STATEMENT

Hi, my name is Lisa Cristia and I live in Chicago. I’m grateful for the opportunity to tell you my story and let you know that secondhand smoke isn’t just a petty annoyance. It’s killing people and causing incredible pain.

Here’s my story. For the first 10 years of my adult life, right after high school, I worked in six different bars and restaurants…as a server, a waitress, a coat check and a bartender. My health problems first developed in my late-20s when I started to develop chronic respiratory difficulties that caused me to regularly miss work.

In my early 30’s, I was diagnosed with stage 3 tongue and throat cancer. My doctor called it “smoker’s cancer” with one key exception: I didn’t smoke. To make a long and painful story short, I had nearly half of my tongue removed, 23 lymph nodes taken out of my neck, and a tracheotomy. Doctors rebuilt my tongue using skin from my leg.

To survive, I had to relearn how to speak, how to breathe, how to eat, and how to cope. I was on morphine for 4 months just to ease the pain. Not only did I have to overcome addictions to the drug, I had to declare bankruptcy – just last month – because I couldn’t pay the bills. And I had insurance – I just couldn’t keep up with them while I was undergoing treatment.

Today, it’s not easy for me to talk. I really can’t taste food or chew well, and the left side of my face is numb. You can see that this huge scar extends from my ear to my chin. People often look at me wondering what happened to me. Who brutalized me.

Senator Jones and other members of the Executive Committee, I’m a victim of secondhand smoke. I am a victim of the occupational hazard of the dangers of working in the hospitality industry. And I’m here today representing the many people who you can’t see. Just to underscore a point I made earlier – I’ve never smoked in my life…at least my own cigarettes. For years I inhaled secondhand smoke from everyone else’s cigarettes.

Thankfully, I’m alive to tell my story. I’m here because I don’t want others to have to deal with this pain. It’s why I spoke up when I heard about this bill.
For the record, I’d like to submit this letter from my doctor that validates my condition.

I encourage you to do the right thing and to go the distance in getting this law passed. Let’s stop the pain and suffering.

Thank you.

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 7:23 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Starting today, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is starting to run television advertising in key downstate media markets in support of the effort to make Illinois Smoke Free.

Featured in these advertisements is an amazing American Cancer Society Volunteer named Lisa Christia. Lisa is a living reminder to all of us of the very real danger of secondhand smoke. But more than that, she is a courageous and inspirational advocate for a Smoke Free Illinois.

Before this year, she had never been to Springfield. Since the effort to make Illinois Smoke Free kicked off in January, she has personally traveled to Springfield three times to share her story with state legislators, with electrifying results each time.

Now you have a chance to hear just a little bit about Lisa's story with this ad campaign. Helps us out by doing the following:

1.Please click on the YouTube link below, and then, forward this link to everyone you know. Help us to spread Lisa's story, and help people understand the risks of secondhand smoke, and why we need Smoke Free Illinois NOW!

2.Subscribe at our new YouTube page, and encourage others to do the same. As new videos related to this campaign become available, we will be posting the results there.

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 5:39 AM | Permalink | Comments   

Bar, restaurant owners rally in Springfield to oppose smoking bill - Belleville News-Democrat

No decision on smoking ban proposal - Chicago Tribune

St. Charles feels heat, undoes smoking ban - Chicago Tribune

Smoking ban left to wither - Daily Herald

Smoking ban tabled indefinitely - Naperville Sun

Smoke and fears - Daily Herald

Smoking ban repealed - Daily Herald

Column - Dave Heun - Daily Herald

City hears plea for restrictions on smoking - Mattoon Journal-Gazette

Smoking ban makes progress in county board - Robinson Daily News

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 1:04 PM | Permalink | Comments   

Latest smoking ban draft offers limited exemptions - Naperville Sun

Smoking is out at Busch Stadium - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Bosnian smokers concern county - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Smoking is bad, but well-intentioned bill goes too far - Rockford Register-Star

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 1:36 PM | Permalink | Comments   

This ran in Saturday's State Journal-Register. Miss Nation is just one of many living examples of why Illinois needs to protect its employees from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Please take a few minutes to read her incredible story:

Smoke-free laws protect all citizens


By Barbara Nation

Published Saturday, March 17, 2007


I am hopeful that lawmakers will carefully consider legislation to prohibit smoking in public workplaces, sponsored by Rep. Karen Yarbrough (Sens. John Cullerton and Terry Link in the Illinois Senate), and remain focused on what this measure is all about - the health and well-being of all Illinoisans.

Over the last few months, I have been reading a lot regarding Smoke-Free Illinois and the smoking ban that has gone into effect in many areas, including Springfield. I am disturbed and alarmed that some of the letter writers believe that there is no evidence to support the fact that secondhand smoke is hazardous to anyone’s health.

I am living proof that secondhand smoke is a health hazard that has devastating consequences on your health. In 2006, the U.S. surgeon general issued a comprehensive, scientific report that shows there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

Even brief exposure can cause immediate harm. In Illinois, eight people a day die from exposure to secondhand smoke. Eight people a day dying from something that can be prevented. I know from personal experience that secondhand smoke is a major health problem. Repeat: The effects of secondhand smoke are not just bothersome; they are devastating.

When I was 29 years old and the mother of a 3-year-old child, I was told I had a tumor in my lung that needed to be removed because there was a 50-50 chance it was cancerous. Being so young and with a child to raise, I said, “The sooner the better.”

The doctor asked, “So how many packs of cigarettes a day do you smoke?” I looked at him stunned and replied, “I’ve only smoked four cigarettes in my entire life and that was over nine years ago.”

He then asked if anyone I lived with smoked and again I replied, “No, my husband is a nonsmoker.” He laughed and said, “From the looks of your lungs, you must socialize with a lot of smokers because it’s hard to believe you don’t smoke.” He asked me if any of my relatives smoked and I told him they did. He asked if any of my co-workers smoked and I told him they did. In fact, I was working in a 10-foot by 6-foot cubicle with a chain smoker. He then shook his head and said, “After we remove this tumor, I’d strongly suggest you change jobs as soon as possible and limit exposure to secondhand smoke.”

I was operated on the following Monday. It was determined to be a benign tumor; however, I lost the better part of my right lung. A couple of years later, I was diagnosed with asthma, which complicated my lung problems and was eventually diagnosed with chronic bronchiolitis. I now need oxygen to sleep at night, to walk around the mall, to exercise - in short, to live my life.

I cannot sit in a smoking section of a restaurant because I don’t have any more lung capacity to give up to someone who really doesn’t care if I live or die. I know that smoking is an addiction. I know quitting is tough. But smokers can quit. I have no choice, I have to breathe. When they smoke, I can’t breathe.

It’s not an either/or issue. In addition, some people may not understand that you need air to swallow. If you don’t get the right amount of air, you can’t swallow. It’s a horrible feeling when you can’t breathe. Now, add to that not being able to swallow. Everything swirls in slow motion. In the past, I stayed at home or took my life in my hands when eating where smoking and nonsmoking sections truly had nothing separating one from the other.

Illinois should protect all of its citizens - many workers have no choice about where they work. As a young mother, I know that I really didn’t have much of a choice at the time. (And that was before we knew just how dangerous secondhand smoke really is!) No one should have to make a choice between health, which can be destroyed forever, and making a living.

I am grateful to the Springfield City Council and Sangamon County Board for saying no to smoking - and sticking with that decision. You’ve not only made my life so much easier, you’ve probably extended it by a few more years.

I urge all lawmakers to vote to make Illinois a 100 percent smoke-free state. Citizens of this great state must also take action. Write your lawmakers, call their offices and let your voice be heard, write your local papers - the lives, health and general well-being of so many hangs in the balance.

Barbara Nation recently testified before the House committee hearing on this legislation (House Bill 246/Senate Bill 500). This column is derived from that testimony.

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments   

From today's Crain's Chicago Business:

Smoke Free Illinois Act
good for health, business

An important debate is under way in the Illinois General Assembly regarding the third leading cause of preventable death in Illinois. The Smoke Free Illinois Act — SB 500 and HB 246 — is legislation that will not only save lives but also prevent disease, diminish suffering and reduce health care costs.

As the U.S. surgeon general's 2006 report unequivocally stated, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. The heaviest exposure is in the hospitality industry, where employees are least likely to enjoy health insurance coverage and are 20% to 30% more likely to be diagnosed with cancer. Research demonstrates that working eight hours in a smoke-filled environment is the equivalent of involuntarily smoking 16 cigarettes.

The cost of diagnosis and treatment of the uninsured for diseases caused by exposure to secondhand smoke, including asthma, emphysema, stroke and cancer, falls on the taxpayer-funded public health care system, as well as on those employers who provide health care coverage for their employees. In fact, the Society of Actuaries estimates non-smokers' exposure to secondhand smoke costs America $10 billion annually.

Illinois business leaders can rest assured that this is not radical legislation that will harm local economies. Today, 16 states and more than 500 U.S. municipalities, including 31 villages here in Illinois, have passed comprehensive smoke-free laws.

As the state's largest health care insurer, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois has been a leader in advocating for comprehensive smoke-free laws. I encourage all business leaders to consider supporting passage of this important public policy.

Raymond McCaskey
President and CEO
Health Care Service Corp.
Chicago
Chairman
American Cancer Society CEOs Against Cancer

Posted by Smoke-Free Illinois at 8:52 AM | Permalink | Comments