Public Health Organizations Call on Churchill Downs to Open Turfway Park Smoke-free
August 16th, 2022
To the Leadership of Churchill Downs Incorporated,
News
Colorado Tobacco Free Alliance Partners Oppose Senate Bill 17-184
April 7, 2017
Colorado Tobacco Free Alliance Partners Oppose Senate Bill 17-184
“Private Marijuana Clubs” Will Erode Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act; Putting Lives at Risk
Denver, CO –April 3, 2017 – Approved by Colorado voters in November 2012, Amendment 64 legalized the limited sale, possession and personal consumption of recreational marijuana, provided the consumption is not conducted openly and publicly, or in a manner that endangers others.
Senate Bill (SB) 17-184, now in the Colorado House, creates rules for establishing marijuana clubs and would define open and public in a manner that would permit marijuana use in many public and workplace locations, potentially expanding the number of places where persons would be exposed to marijuana smoke or the aerosol from use of electronic smoking devices.
Colorado Tobacco Free Alliance partners, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, the Colorado Group to Alleviate Smoking Pollution (GASP) and Healthier Colorado today expressed their opposition to SB 17-184.
“We believe the supporters of this bill are mistaken in their view that the bill complies with the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act,” stated R.J. Ours, ACS CAN Colorado Government Director, “We do not believe that private marijuana clubs qualify for exemption to the Act under the small business exemption. While communities across tour state have been working to expand their protections from smoke and aerosol from electronic smoking devices, this bill will move our state backward by creating a bigger smoking problem in our work and public places.”
The small business exemption contained in the Clean Indoor Air Act, opposed by the CO Tobacco Free Alliance, states: “A place of employment that is not open to the public and that is under the control of an employer that employs three or fewer employees.” By definition, this restriction also applies to volunteers.
“We do deeply appreciate that Governor John Hickenlooper has expressed opposition to any indoor marijuana smoking because it is important to protect all workers from the toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in marijuana smoke,” Ours added.
In 2006, the Colorado General Assembly passed the state law that made most but not all, work and public places smoke-free. Since then, the legislature has added casinos and marijuana to the smoke-free law, and communities have expanded their smoke-free ordinances to include outdoor areas and electronic smoking devices. Current state law does not permit marijuana use in public or workplaces or in places that are exempt under the clean indoor air act. However, SB 17-184 would change all of that.
“If this bill passes, local communities will have to work to clean up the mess created by this weak state law, which is designed to promote and protect marijuana use—not public health and safety,” said Director of Lung Health programs at the American Lung Association in Colorado Bob Doyle.
Peer-reviewed and published studies indicate that exposure to secondhand marijuana smoke may have health and safety risks for the public, especially due to its similar composition to secondhand tobacco smoke. This is because secondhand smoke from combusted marijuana contains:
- Fine particulate matter that can be breathed deeply into the lungs, causing lung irritation, asthma attacks and making respiratory infections more likely. Exposure to fine particulate matter can exacerbate health problems especially for people with respiratory conditions like asthma, bronchitis, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
- Many of the same cancer-causing substances and toxic chemicals as secondhand tobacco smoke including significant amounts of mercury, cadmium, nickel, lead and chromium, as well as 20 times the amount of ammonia and 3-5 times more hydrogen cyanide.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.