State lagging in smoke-free environments

ST. LOUIS -- Public health advocates say Missouri and many parts of the St. Louis region don't have enough smoke-free environments.

Missouri has passed 122 smoking ordinances, compared to just 49 in Illinois.

Pat Lindsey, who leads the Tobacco Free Missouri Coalition in St. Louis said there's still much more to be done.

"Smoking bans are being implemented all around us. Illinois is going gangbusters. Kansas is about to do a few things, and here we sit," Lindsey said.

Critics of the restrictions, including John Britton, a former tobacco industry lobbyist and four-pack a day smoker, said some laws go too far.

"If somebody wants to smoke, let them smoke. If they want to eat eight hamburgers a day, let them eat eight hamburgers a day," Britton said.

Public health advocates say characterizing the issue as a battle of personal rights is misleading.

Calloway said polls show that up to 70 percent of the public wants legal protections from secondhand smoke.

Laws prohibit smoking on some beaches on both coasts or public playgrounds in New York City. In Arkansas, if your child passenger is young enough to be in a restraint seat, you can't smoke in your car.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 23.4 percent of adults smoke in Missouri and 20.6 percent smoke nationally.

Various medical publications have reported declines in lung cancer deaths, asthma attacks and hospital admissions for heart attacks after smoking bans were implemented and more people are often motivated to quit.

"There is a direct correlation between smoking bans and lower smoking rates," said Christine Winter, a spokesman for the American Cancer Society.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, www.stltoday.com