Two questions concerned citizens of Mason County Public Health should be able to answer are: 1) “Why is secondhand smoke a public health issue?” and 2) “What is the Smoke-Free Partnership?”
So, why is secondhand smoke a public health issue?
Nowadays most people believe and understand that preventing tobacco-use and helping tobacco users quit can improve their health and quality of life.
Even so, people still have a right to smoke.
The issue becomes one of public health and safety when the dangerous and often fatal side effects of secondhand smoke are considered.
Secondhand smoke limits the rights of others to defend their personal health.
And that is where question number two: “What is the Smoke Free Partnership?” comes in.
Mason Countians have the right to take ownership of their community on their own terms. Sixty-seven percent of voters in our county say they want the fiscal court to pass a smoke-free, non-exempt, comprehensive ordinance prohibiting toxic air in indoor places.
People who do not smoke should not have to jeopardize their health due to the decisions of people who do smoke. Exposure to secondhand smoke hurts everyone who breathes it, especially those with asthma and other breathing problems. It can even trigger heart attacks.
The air inside Mason County workplaces is 8.5 times more polluted than in Lexington where there has been a smoke-free ordinance for 15 years.
The Smoke-Free Partnership does not stand for a smoking ban or a ban on cigarettes. It stands for a smoking ordinance that prohibits smoking in places with two conditions: 1. indoors and 2. public. Indoors in your own home? Fine. But where there may be other citizens who are affected. That is not okay nor accepted.
To learn more about the Smoke-Free Partnership of Mason County, current events, updates on pulmonary disease research, smoking cessation, and the benefits of Smoke-Free environments please visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/SmokeFreeMasonCo/
To learn more about the Mason County Health Coalition and its subcommittees please visit: https://www.buffalotracehealth.com/mason-county-health-coalition/