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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.C.R. NO. |
195 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
H.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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RESOLUTION
urging the designation of all areas of the state capitol as a smoke-free workplace.
WHEREAS, smoking-related diseases claim an estimated 430,700 American lives each year, including those affected indirectly; and
WHEREAS, smoking costs the United States approximately $97,200,000,000 each year in health care costs and lost productivity; it is directly responsible for 87 per cent of lung cancer cases and causes most cases of emphysema and chronic bronchitis; and
WHEREAS, smoking is also a major factor in coronary heart disease and stroke; it may be causally related to malignancies in other parts of the body and has been linked to a variety of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease; and
WHEREAS, smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 per cent of low-birth weight babies, up to fourteen per cent of pre-term deliveries, and 10 per cent of all infant deaths; and
WHEREAS, smoking by parents is also associated with a wide range of adverse effects in their children, including exacerbation of asthma, increased frequency of colds and ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome; and
WHEREAS, secondhand smoke involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers from other people's cigarettes is classified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as a known human (Group A) carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in American nonsmokers; and
WHEREAS, female smokers aged 35 years or older are 12 times more likely to die prematurely from lung cancer than nonsmoking females, with more American women dying annually from lung cancer than any other type of cancer; and
WHEREAS, tobacco advertising plays an important role in encouraging young people to begin a lifelong addiction to smoking before they are old enough to fully understand its long-term health risk, with an estimated 4,500,000 American teenage cigarette smokers; approximately 90 per cent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21; and
WHEREAS, workplaces nationwide are going smoke-free to provide clean indoor air and protect employees from the life-threatening effects of secondhand smoke; a 1992 Gallup poll showed that 94 per cent of Americans believe companies should either ban smoking totally in the workplace or restrict it to designated areas; and
WHEREAS, a smoke-free State Capitol would set a good example for our children and reflect our respect for one of Hawaii's architectural highlights; and
WHEREAS, the American Cancer Society, the American Lung and Heart Associations, and the Coalition for a Smoke Free Hawaii have endorsed designating the State Capitol a smoke-free workplace; and
WHEREAS, although current law provides that smoking is prohibited in all areas open to the public and reception and waiting areas of state-owned buildings, the law is unenforced; and
WHEREAS, each state agency head establishes the smoking policy for their organization, and in the case of the State Capitol, this would be the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Senate President; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2002, the Senate concurring, that the Governor, the Department of Accounting and General Services, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Senate President are requested to designate the State Capitol as a completely smoke-free building with appropriate "No Smoking" signs to be posted and existing ashtrays removed; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is requested to enforce existing law that prohibits smoking in public areas of state-owned buildings; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Comptroller, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Senate President.
Report Title:
Smoke-free Workplace; State Capitol