CONCORD – January 12, 2016 – Yesterday, New Hampshire lawmakers heard testimony on House Bill 279, which would roll back a decade old protection of clean indoor air that prohibits smoking in bars and restaurants. The bill would also remove the protections in privately run grocery stores, restaurants, and cocktail lounges, along with transportation, such as taxis, buses and boats. The following statement can be attributed to Mike Rollo, director government relations for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) in New Hampshire:
“ACS CAN strongly opposes any legislation that would weaken New Hampshire’s clean indoor air laws. Now is the time to be looking forward to continued progress in the fight against cancer – not the time for stepping back to undo a decade long protection of clean indoor air in the Granite State.
“The science is clear: there are no safe levels of exposure to secondhand smoke, and exposure to secondhand smoke contributes to death and disease from cancer. The men and women who work in restaurants and bars, and patrons of those establishments, deserve to be protected from these dangers.”
Next Wednesday the bill will be sent to the Liquor Subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee for further review.
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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