Lawmakers have duty to address tobacco risks

By Kenneth D. Ward
April 1, 2006

Bio info: Kenneth D. Ward is an associate professor of health and sport sciences and director of the Center for Community Health at the University of Memphis.

I have become weary from watching those around me suffer and die from smoking -- relatives who died much too young from lung cancer and heart disease; my father, who now has trouble walking due to vascular disease brought on by years of smoking; and friends and acquaintances who struggle with other tobacco-related illnesses, such as emphysema and stroke.

As a psychologist, I've seen countless smokers battle an addiction that is more difficult to kick than cocaine or heroin. Most wearying, though, is knowing that the Tennessee General Assembly has the power to drastically reduce tobacco-related disease and death, and yet fails to act, year after year.

Statewide, Tennessee has one of the highest rates of smoking in the country, ranking third in the proportion of adults who smoke (26.1 percent), and fifth in youth smoking (27.6 percent of high school students). We rank last among states in per capita funding for tobacco control, contributing only 6 percent of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates to be adequate for effective comprehensive tobacco control. Tennesseans pay $2 billion annually in smoking-related health care costs, with productivity losses costing an additional $2.6 billion.

The consequences of our inaction are severe. Half of all smokers die from a tobacco-related cause. Half of these deaths occur during midlife (35-69 years of age). On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. Ten thousand of the 440,000 Americans who die each year from smoking are Tennesseans.

These risks are not limited to smokers. For every eight smokers that tobacco kills, one nonsmoker also is killed. In Tennessee, this means that between 970 and 1,720 nonsmokers die each year from breathing in other people's smoke, most from heart disease and lung cancer.

Recently, two House bills that would have helped protect Tennesseans from tobacco-related disease and death were defeated by the Agriculture Committee. Rep. Joey Hensley's bill to prohibit smoking in restaurants that employ or permit access by children was defeated 13-1. Rep. Paul Stanley's bill to allow individual cities and counties to decide for themselves whether to ban smoking from public buildings and restaurants was referred to a "study committee" -- a euphemism for death by neglect.

Other bills this year are unlikely to fare any better since House rules require all smoking-related bills to be routed through the Agriculture Committee. Fourteen House members who oversee farm legislation should not have ultimate authority over critically important health-related bills that affect all Tennesseans.

The influence of Big Tobacco on the Agriculture Committee's decisions is clear. The Tennessee Restaurant Association lobbied against this year's restaurant smoking bills. The tobacco industry has pursued a long-term, multimillion-dollar strategy to convince restaurant and bar owners that clean air laws are bad for business, a claim that consistently has been shown to be false. In numerous cities and states, including California, Massachusetts, Delaware, Lexington, Ky., El Paso, Texas, and New York City, clean air laws have had no negative effects, and sometimes positive effects, on restaurant and bar business.

We need effective legislation to ensure clean air for all and to reduce tobacco use, especially among young people. Several policy changes have been recommended by The Campaign for a Healthy and Responsible Tennessee (CHART) that are backed by convincing scientific data:

Restore local control over tobacco policy through full repeal of the state's pre-emption law. Tobacco industry lobbying led the General Assembly in 1994 to strip communities of their authority to set tobacco-related policy. The General Assembly has refused to act on several pre-emption repeal bills, despite requests to do so from 53 communities representing 58 percent of the state's population.

Enact a comprehensive statewide smoke-free workplace law. All workers deserve to breathe clean indoor air. Thirteen states have now passed comprehensive smoke-free workplace legislation. A statewide clean air law, along with a provision allowing cities and towns to enact additional stricter laws, would save lives and increase quit rates among smokers.

Increase the state's tobacco excise tax to the national average. At 20 cents per pack, Tennessee's cigarette tax is the nation's third lowest. Raising this tax to 91 cents per pack -- the national average -- would likely prevent 56,900 Tennessee children alive today from becoming regular adult smokers, and 18,200 from premature smoking-related death. This increase also would likely help 38,500 current adult smokers to quit and save 10,200 of them from premature death.

Not surprisingly, 2 out of 3 Tennessee voters support an increase to 91 cents per pack, including 71 percent of Republicans, 69 percent of Democrats, and 59 percent of independents.

Lastly, more tobacco-related bills are scheduled for legislative action this term. It is imperative that our elected officials know that Tennesseans support clean air laws.

All Tennesseans deserve to live healthy lives while breathing clean air. The General Assembly's duty is clear: The time has come for it to act responsibly.

Information on tobacco-related legislation pending in the Tennessee General Assembly and contact information for legislators are available at tnchart.org.

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