FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Michelle Zimmerman
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (888) 227-6446 Ext. 8601
ACS CAN Celebrates 10th Anniversary of Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act and Calls for Ohio to Pass Strong Tobacco Control Policies
Columbus, Ohio – December 7, 2016 – Today, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) celebrated the 10th anniversary of Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act and called on Ohio’s lawmakers and governor to pass and implement polices proven to reduce tobacco use by encouraging people addicted to quit and help prevent young people from starting.
On November 7, 2006, the voters of Ohio supported a statewide ballot initiative which required that all public places, and places of employment, prohibit smoking. This initiative took effect thirty days later on December 7, 2006 making this Wednesday, December 7, 2016, the 10th anniversary. Ohio was the first Midwestern state and the first tobacco-growing state to enact such a ban.
“We know that smoke-free laws are good public health policy. The Smoke-Free Workplace Act stimulated a reduction of the adult smoking rate from 2007-2009, and continues to have positive health impacts through increased air quality and reduced emergency room visits for various pulmonary conditions associated with second-hand smoke” said Jeff Stephens, government relations director, ACS CAN.
A poll released today by ACS CAN showed that Ohioans strongly support the Smoke-Free Workplace Act. The poll was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies in June of 2016 and indicated that the favorability for Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act has climbed to 85 percent. The support is broad-based and universal with virtually every demographic group – Republicans and Democrats alike – favoring the law. There is little difference in the favorability by geographic, racial, gender, age and ideological lines. The poll found that even strong majorities of Tea Party supporters and smokers back the law.
The number of supporters for the Smoke-Free Workplace Act has continued to climb over the years. The Smoke-Free Workplace Act was initially supported by voters at 58.52 percent in 2006. At the 5-year anniversary, in September 2011, the Ohio Department of Health released a collection of five reports that showed that 73 percent of adult Ohioans either strongly approved or approved of the Smoke‐Free Workplace Act.
The polling data also confirms that Ohio voters have consistently supported increasing tobacco taxes. Furthermore, 70 percent favor taxing other tobacco products such as cigars, smokeless tobacco, and chewing tobacco, at the same rate at cigarettes. These products are currently taxed at a much lower rate than cigarettes and remain an affordable gateway to tobacco addiction for our youth. Once again, the support is similar across party lines.
Additionally, the polling data reported that voters overwhelmingly believe it is important to fund programs to prevent and reduce tobacco use among kids, and help all smokers quit.
“The burden of tobacco use in Ohio remains staggering. In 2014, 7,500 cancer deaths were directly attributable to tobacco use and the annual cost to our health care system is $5.64 billion, this all is preventable.” said Stephens. “Ohio lawmakers must respond to the 92 percent of voters that indicate the importance of funding tobacco prevention and cessation programs. The positive return on this investment is evidence-based and proven.”
Fifty years of evidence demonstrates what works in tobacco use prevention and cessation: the combination of regularly and significantly increasing tobacco taxes, investing in tobacco prevention and cessation programs that use Centers for Disease Control -proven best practices and comprehensive smoke-free laws that cover all workplaces.
ACS CAN calls on Ohio lawmakers to increase the cigarette tax by at least a $1.00/pack and equalize the tax on other tobacco products. Additionally, they recommend an investment of $35 million in tobacco use prevention programs and cessation services and continued protection of Ohio’s Smoke-Free Workplace Act.
Methodology
Public Opinion Strategies completed the statewide telephone survey of 600 registered voters in Ohio. Interviews were conducted on both landline and cell phones (the survey included 240 interviews among cell phone respondents). The survey was completed June 22-26, 2016 and has an overall margin of error of +/-4.0 percentage points.
About ACS CAN
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.
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