Area public health officials rekindle effort to get local anti-smoking ordinances passed

An alliance of health professionals in Knox, Laurel and Whitley County are actively advocating that local communities adopt strict anti-smoking ordinances, and they are armed to the teeth with facts and statistics to bolster their argument.

Kathy Lay, Health Education Coordinator for the Whitley County Health Department, contends that the prospect of a statewide ban on smoking in many public places is encouraging, but that local cities and county governments should not shirk their responsibility to watch out for the health and welfare of citizens.

Lay, along with other public health experts, are now lobbying for strongly worded, exemption-free bans on smoking in places like restaurants, businesses and government buildings.

"Even brief exposure to second-hand smoke causes immediate harm to the body, damage to cells," Lay said during an interview with the News Journal Monday. "We have a lot of information, for instance, about how it affects the heart just being in a room with a person that is smoking just a for a few minutes."

In a packet of information Lay is providing to journalists, business and civic leaders, the negative effects of secondhand smoke are detailed.

Among the statistics:

• About 49,000 people, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, have died in Kentucky from heart disease and lung cancer attributed to secondhand smoke.

• Secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals, gases and poisons known to be toxic or cancer causing.

• A recent poll shows 59 percent of Kentuckians favor a law making all restaurants, bars and workplaces smoke-free.
• Secondhand smoke can trigger heart attacks in people with heart problems and damages DNA.

• Chemicals in tobacco smoke damage the lining of the lungs and can cause permanent damage, reducing the ability of the lungs to exchange air efficiently.

Currently, 30 communities in Kentucky, including the nearby city of London, have smoking bans in place. Lay said she works diligently to stop potential smokers by educating youth about the negative effects of tobacco smoke. Those efforts have been successful, but she said nothing is better than a community taking a stand against it.

"This is about changing our social norms," Lay said. "A smoke-free ordinance changes the whole atmosphere of the community. Kids are less likely to ever start."

In 2008, the Whitley County Health Department was part of a coalition of agencies that tested air quality in local restaurants. The results showed that air quality in restaurants that allowed smoking was often low and even dangerously unhealthy.

But while statistics may be on their side, a smoking-ban in some local communities could face an uphill battle.

In 2009, the Corbin Community Coalition – a loose-knit group of local education and business leaders along with government officials – advocated for a ban. The city’s five-member Board of Commissioners listened to the proposal but never acted on the issue. The city of Williamsburg has never publicly considered a ban.

The Coalition distributed surveys to restaurants that allowed patrons to weigh in on the issue. A slim majority was against any type of restrictions on smoking.

Brandi Gilley, a Clinical Nutritionist and Health Educator with the Laurel County Health Department, said she feels the results of that survey were skewed, but understands well the opposition to a smoking ban.

London passed a ban in 2009, and it wasn’t without some dissenting voices. Much of the opposition comes from restaurant owners, she says, who believe their business could suffer.

"We had some opposition when we began the process, but now that we are a little over a year in we have gotten a lot of positive feedback from business owners," Gilley said. "Businesses that we thought would be completely against it are saying now that their business has actually improved since the smoking ordinance passed. We were really happy to see that."

Lay said studies show that, in general, smoke-free laws have little negative effect on business. Quite the contrary, they often have a positive effect.

Community forums are planned for the next few months to discuss the issue and for the general public to give input. Lay said she hopes local leaders will consider, or reconsider, smoke-free laws.