2008 Woodie Awards
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: Opinion
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American Cancer Society on Otter's veto
Dear Editor,
Thursday morning, Governor Butch Otter vetoed a strongly-backed bill to remove smoking from bowling centers, House Bill 121. In his veto letter, he referenced the grocery tax battle, which has yet to be resolved this legislative session, as a reason for the veto.
Proponents of H 121 included the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the Magic Valley Tobacco Free Coalition, Coalition for a Healthy Idaho, the Idaho Hospital Association and Blue Shield. The Bowling Proprietors' Association was neutral, and there was no formal opposition to the bill. H 121 passed both the House and the Senate earlier this session with a large majority.
Volunteers from the American Cancer Society are hopeful that the legislature might override the veto in the remaining days of the legislative session. "This is a public health issue," Gail Baird, American Cancer Society volunteer, said. "Politics should not stand in the way of public health."
Bowling centers are places where Idaho families and youth often visit for recreational and social activities, thus making them the only public places in our state, which allow children under 21 to be exposed to secondhand smoke.
Each year in America, 30,000 individuals die as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the US Surgeon General in a report released June 27, 2006: there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure, with even brief exposure adversely affecting the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Establishing smoke-free environments is the only proven way to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke.
For children across the US, exposure to secondhand smoke leads annually to more than 500,000 physician visits for asthma, 1.3 million visits for coughs, 115,000 episodes of pneumonia, 260,000 episodes of bronchitis, 2 million ear infections, 5,200 middle ear operations, 10,000 cases of low birth weight, 2,000 cases of SIDS, 8,000 new cases of asthma and 1 million cases of exacerbated asthma.
Dear Editor,
Thursday morning, Governor Butch Otter vetoed a strongly-backed bill to remove smoking from bowling centers, House Bill 121. In his veto letter, he referenced the grocery tax battle, which has yet to be resolved this legislative session, as a reason for the veto.
Proponents of H 121 included the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, the Magic Valley Tobacco Free Coalition, Coalition for a Healthy Idaho, the Idaho Hospital Association and Blue Shield. The Bowling Proprietors' Association was neutral, and there was no formal opposition to the bill. H 121 passed both the House and the Senate earlier this session with a large majority.
Volunteers from the American Cancer Society are hopeful that the legislature might override the veto in the remaining days of the legislative session. "This is a public health issue," Gail Baird, American Cancer Society volunteer, said. "Politics should not stand in the way of public health."
Bowling centers are places where Idaho families and youth often visit for recreational and social activities, thus making them the only public places in our state, which allow children under 21 to be exposed to secondhand smoke.
Each year in America, 30,000 individuals die as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke. According to the US Surgeon General in a report released June 27, 2006: there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure, with even brief exposure adversely affecting the cardiovascular and respiratory system. Establishing smoke-free environments is the only proven way to prevent exposure to secondhand smoke.
For children across the US, exposure to secondhand smoke leads annually to more than 500,000 physician visits for asthma, 1.3 million visits for coughs, 115,000 episodes of pneumonia, 260,000 episodes of bronchitis, 2 million ear infections, 5,200 middle ear operations, 10,000 cases of low birth weight, 2,000 cases of SIDS, 8,000 new cases of asthma and 1 million cases of exacerbated asthma.
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