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Statement of William V. Corr, Executive Director, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Jump to full article: Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 2008-04-09
Intro: The Iowa Legislature and Kansas City, Missouri, voters on Tuesday delivered victories for health and the public's right to breathe clean air by enacting measures to make most workplaces, including restaurants and bars, smoke-free. Governor Chet Culver has indicated he will sign the Iowa legislation into law, making Iowa the 24th state to pass a strong smoke-free law that includes restaurants and bars. The law will take effect July 1.
Kansas City voters, by 52 to 48 percent, approved a ballot initiative requiring that workplaces, including restaurants and bars, be smoke-free beginning in two months. Kansas City voters rejected a deceptive campaign against the initiative that was funded almost entirely by the R.J. Reynolds tobacco company, which contributed more than $200,000 to the losing effort.
The Iowa and Kansas City victories add to the growing momentum across the country and around the world to protect all workers and the public from the serious health hazards of secondhand smoke. . . .
Iowa joins 23 other states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico in passing smoke-free laws that cover restaurants and bars. . . .
A growing number of countries have also passed nationwide smoke-free laws, including Bermuda, Bhutan, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Uruguay.
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