WASHINGTON, D.C. January 22, 2015 The New Orleans City Council 's unanimous vote to pass a comprehensive, citywide smoke-free ordinance covering all workplaces and public spaces is a significant victory in the fight against cancer. Today 's vote ensures that no worker in New Orleans will have to choose between their health and their job, and residents and tourists will be protected from the cancer-causing toxins found in secondhand smoke.
New Orleans residents who 've been touched by cancer are celebrating this decision, and public health advocates nationwide are calling on elected officials in other municipalities and states with casinos and gaming facilities to follow New Orleans' lead and protect everyone's right to breathe smoke-free air.
Tobacco is the number one cause of preventable death nationwide, killing approximately 480,000 people in the United States each year. By passing comprehensive, smoke-free laws like the ordinance passed in New Orleans today, we will reduce tobacco-related diseases like cancer and save lives.
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.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Emily Rohloff or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 585-3296 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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