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2000 Program Report
Oregonians Want Protection From Secondhand Smoke
Eighty five percent of Oregonians say that people should be protected from secondhand smoke, and 73 percent say that smoking should be banned in the workplace. Why is that? Because they know that secondhand smoke is a serious health and economic issue:
- Secondhand smoke increases health care costs, raises rates of child and adult illness, and kills over 800 Oregonians each year.
- Secondhand smoke contains 50 cancer-causing chemicals, increases heart disease, stroke, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. In smokers' homes, secondhand smoke causes half of breathing-related illnesses among small children.
- Teens are among the most likely to work in environments where smoking is allowed.
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DELIVERING RESULTS
After just three years, Oregon can take credit for these major steps forward:
- Twenty seven percent of Oregonians now live within a local jurisdiction that has adopted requirements for smokefree workplaces. Other jurisdictions appear poised to follow this lead.
- 76 percent of Oregonians do not allow smoking anywhere in their homes.
- Oregon's licensed childcare facilities are now entirely smokefree.
Doing What Works
EFFECTIVE MEDIA MESSAGES
Oregon's effective media education campaign program includes messages about secondhand smoke that motivate smokers to quit for the health of their loved ones, and that encourage all Oregonians to protect themselves against second-hand smoke.
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COMMUNITY EDUCATION
All 35 local coalitions, nine tribes and six multicultural organizations throughout Oregon have worked in their communities to educate residents about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
CREATING SMOKEFREE ENVIRONMENTS
These same organizations encouraged businesses to go smokefree, and promoted smokefree homes, cars and schools. Several of these community groups have also actively worked with local city and county policy-makers to identify and enact measures to reduce secondhand smoke in the workplace. The following jurisdictions now have local policies requiring workplaces to be smokefree: Corvallis, Benton County, Central Point, Baker City, Multnomah County, Eugene and Philomath.
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 CENTRAL POINT VOTERS SPEAK
"Most of the Central Point City Councilors had personal stories about losses caused by tobacco, and so wanted to prevent these losses for the next generation," observes Kaaren Borsting, chair for Tobacco-Free Jackson County. A true community leader decided to do something about tobacco," recalls Brady Webb of the coalition." City Councilor Bill Stultz created a passion for a solution to the problem."
Stultz had just returned from a Southern Oregon Summit on Tobacco Policy, where he had heard discussions about tobacco use and about solutions. Stultz discussed with Mayor Bill Walton his concern about youth and tobacco, and potential solutions. Both he and the Mayor then discussed the issue with other councilors.
After a heated public hearing, the council adopted an ordinance protecting workers (especially teens) in Central Point from the hazards of secondhand smoke, and creating a community norm against smoking. The public subsequently voted to support the ordinance by a ratio of almost 2 to 1.
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