Colorado Celebrates Two Years of the Clean Indoor Air Act
Interactive Timeline Shows Significant Progress With
Smoke-Free Living
June 30, 2008 - DENVER - Two years after taking
effect, the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act is helping
residents and visitors experience significantly healthier
environments. In January, casinos joined the list of public
places included in the smoke-free law, allowing employees
and patrons of most public places to breathe easier with
improved air quality.
To mark the two-year anniversary of the Colorado Clean
Indoor Air Act, and the vast accomplishments in the movement
toward smoke-free environments in Colorado and around the
world, Smoke Free Colorado has created an embeddable,
interactive timeline that can be viewed on the “Media and
PR” page at
www.smokefreecolorado.com
or at www.vimeo.com/schenkein.
The timeline was designed to be easily shared on blogs,
social networking and other online media Web sites.
Some of the highlights included in the timeline are the
results of several indoor air quality studies. Only two
months after casinos went smoke-free, a study by the State
Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership, based at the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, found
that the overall air quality in casinos had improved by 92
percent. The partnership conducted a similar study last year
after the original smoke-free law went into effect and found
that air pollution in hospitality venues, including bars and
restaurants, had improved by nearly 70 percent. The most
dramatic improvement was seen in bars and taverns, where air
quality improved by 90 percent. The significant changes in
both casinos and other hospitality venues brought the EPA
ratings for both environments from “unhealthy” to “good” air
quality.
“Coloradans and visitors have been able to enjoy
significantly healthier indoor environments since the
smoke-free law went into effect two years ago,” said R. J.
Ours, director of government relations for the American
Cancer Society - Great West Division. “Businesses around the
state have made a commitment to public health, and for that
we encourage everyone to continue to support these
hospitality venues.”
Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in
Colorado, where 17.9 percent of adults smoke. Smoke-free
laws are proving to be an effective way to improve public
health by reducing people’s exposure to secondhand smoke,
which has been shown to be harmful to both adults and
children and causes more than 50,000 deaths per year in the
United States. In fact, the surgeon general issued a report
last year that concludes there is no risk-free level of
exposure to secondhand smoke and eliminating smoking in
indoor places protects everyone from secondhand smoke
exposure.
Colorado offers several resources to smokers who want to
quit. The Colorado Quitline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW
(1-800-784-8669), is a free telephone coaching service that
supports smokers through the quitting process and offers
free nicotine patches. Smokers who use the QuitLine along
with the patch are nine times more likely to be successful
compared to those smokers quitting on their own.
Colorado was the 13th state to implement a smoke-free
law. As of April 1, 27 states, along with Puerto Rico and
Washington D.C., have laws in effect that require 100
percent smoke-free workplaces and/or restaurants and/or
bars.
Smoke-Free Colorado is a statewide coalition of health
and community organizations including the American Heart
Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer
Society, GASP of Colorado (Group to Alleviate Smoking
Pollution), Colorado Tobacco Education and Prevention
Alliance and the State Tobacco Education & Prevention
Partnership.
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