Handsel Art

PRESS RELEASE

Date: 1 July 2006

For Immediate Release

Contact: J.R. Few at

(870) 427-1365 or email

handselart@marioncounty.com

The Debate Is Over

U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona cited cumulative research in his June 27^th report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke, showing that there is no safe exposure to secondhand smoke.

“The health effects of secondhand smoke exposure are more pervasive than we previously thought,” said Surgeon General Carmona, vice admiral of the U.S. Public Health Service. “The scientific evidence is now indisputable: secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults.” The report goes on to say that the only effective protection from secondhand smoke is to prohibit smoking in enclosed spaces. In April the Arkansas General Assembly passed a comprehensive smoke fee law, Act 8, guaranteeing clean indoor air in public and most workplaces.

Jerry Strobel, Chairperson of Tobacco-Free Marion County adds, “While more and more workplaces are protected from secondhand smoke, it is in the home where many children are exposed. Too often young people suffer most from big tobacco’s influence in their own home.”

The Surgeon General’s report states that since the late 1980s cotinine levels, the biomarker for nicotine exposure, have decreased 70% in nonsmokers but the median cotinine levels among children are still twice that of nonsmoking adults.

###