Clean Indoor Air Policy is Good for Business

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Clean Indoor Air Policy is Good for Business

• Presentation to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber
  of Commerce
• October 21, 2002
• Bianca Ortiz Wertheim, MBA
• Director of Government Relations
• American Cancer Society

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The Toll Of Tobacco On New Mexicans

• Current Tobacco use in New Mexico
• 36 of high school students smoked last month.
• 23.6 of adults in NM smoke.
• 12,400 kids under 18 try cigarettes for the first
  time each year.
• 5,400 kids under 18 become new regular, daily
  smokers.
• 103,000 kids are exposed to second hand smoke at
  home.

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The Toll Of Tobacco On New Mexicans

• Illness and Death Caused by Tobacco
• 2,100 adults die each year in NM from smoking
• 650 Bernalillo County residents die each year
  from tobacco-related disease
• 230 to 420 deaths occur from others smoking
  (secondhand smoke) 53,000 in US
• 2,930 pregnancies and births in NM are adversely
  affected by smoking
• Smoking in pregnancy accounts for 10 of all
  infant deaths
• 2,300 NM kids have lost one parent to
  smoking-related causes

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The Toll Of Tobacco On New Mexicans

• Almost all cases of lung cancer are caused by
  tobacco.
• Almost half of all continuing smokers die from
  disease caused by smoking.
• Smoking is the cause of 29 of all cancers.
• Secondhand smoke is the 3rd leading preventable
  cause of death in US behind only active smoking
  and alcohol.
• Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car
  crashes, illegal drugs, murders and suicides
  combined.

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Private Sector BurdenCost of Employee Health Care

• Tobacco Use Prevention Policy is sound economic
  policy
• Currently, costs are shifted onto private sector
• New Mexico burden 37.7 million each year in
  Medicaid funds on Tobacco Related illness
• Smoking-caused productivity losses in New Mexico
  397 million
• Total annual Medicaid costs are 143.9 million
  for tobacco-related illness.
• Healthy work force

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Private Sector BurdenCost of Employee Health
Care cont.

• Survey of Albuquerque Metro Business Owners/
  Executives
• 75 feel this is a serious problem
• New Mexicans Concerned About Tobacco Survey
• over 87 of business owners surveyed support
  ordinance
• Research Polling Jan 2002 Metro Area Business
  Survey/GACC
• Research Polling Aug 2002 NMCAT survey of
  registered voters in Albuquerque

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New Mexicans with Breathing Problems

• In Bernalillo County alone, there are an
  estimated 56,921 persons who suffer from chronic
  lung disease
• Lung cancer 202
• Emphysema 5,361
• Bronchitis 17,317
• Adult Asthma 27,098
• Pediatric Asthma 6,943
• Source American Lung Association, April 2002

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What is Secondhand Smoke?

• Group A carcinogen a substance known to cause
  cancer in humans for which there is no safe level
  of exposure
• Contains more than 4,000 chemicals, of which at
  least 40 are established carcinogens
• Contains most of the same chemicals as the smoke
  that smokers inhale however concentration of the
  most toxic and carcinogenic chemicals is much
  higher in secondhand smoke

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What is Secondhand Smoke?

• Leading source of toxic chemical exposure
• Number one environmental cause of cancer

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Number of cancer deaths from secondhand smoke is
higher than total cancer deaths from the
following pollutants combined

• All outdoor air pollutants (radionuclides,
  asbestos, arsenic, benzene, coke oven emissions,
  and vinyl chloride)
• Radiation
• Pesticides on food
• Active hazardous waste sites

• Inactive hazardous waste sites
• Chemicals in drinking water
• All workplace chemicals
• All consumer products (including asbestos)
• Pesticide application
• Contaminated sludge
• Mining wastes

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Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke

• Asthma Induction and Exacerbation
• Eye and Nasal Irritation
• Cancer Lung and Nasal Sinus
• Heart Disease and Stroke
• Low Birth Weight
• SIDS
• Respiratory Infections

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Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke on Workers

• Restaurant and bar workers exposure to
  secondhand smoke is much greater than the patrons
  who frequent the establishment, since full-time
  employees are immersed in the same toxic smoking
  environment as their patrons, but for 8 hours/day
• Secondhand smoke levels in restaurants are 150
  higher than in a home with at least one smoker
• Secondhand smoke levels in bars are 450 higher
  than in a home with at least one smoker

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Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke on Workers
cont.

• Wait staff die of lung cancer at a 50 to 90
  higher rate than other workers as a result of
  secondhand smoke exposure.
• Bartenders have death rates form lung cancer,
  heart disease, and overall mortality 1½ times
  higher than for all other workers even after
  accounting for active smoking, alcohol use and
  socioeconomic status

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What About the Economic Impact of Clean Indoor
Air Policies?

• Eliminating smoking does NOT hurt business
• The public prefers smokefree restaurants and bars
• The overwhelming majority of bar patrons do not
  smoke in bars

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How can you tell if smokefree measures affect the
hospitality business?

• No properly conducted study shows a negative
  economic impact. Some even show that a smokefree
  measure improves business.
• In the meantime, as evidence mounts about the
  dangers of secondhand smoke, so does the legal
  liability of employers including restaurants.

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• What is the experience in other localities?

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The Facts Behind Smokefree Policies

• More than 200 credible, peer reviewed studies
  show that there is no economic harm to smokefree
  ordinances
• For every smoker you lose, you gain a table of
  eight nonsmokers.
• Manager of Dennys, Las Cruces
• Carlsbad Current-Argus, July 30, 2000

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Mesa, Arizona
Independent analysis of sales tax data shows that
Mesa's smokefree restaurant measure (blue line)
had no effect on hospitality revenues.
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Anchorage, Alaska
In November 2001, the Alaska Native Health Board commissioned a public opinion poll on Anchorages smokefree measure. Mirroring results in other locales, 80 of citizens supported it and 22 said they planned to eat more often than before restaurants went smokefree.
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California Experience
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Eating establishments taxable annual sales in
California by liquor license type, 1992-1999
Billion Dollars
Smoke-free Restaurants
Smoke-free Bars
Source California State Board of
Equalization. Prepared by California Department
of Health Services, Tobacco Control Section,
November 2001.
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Number of Eating and Drinking Establishments in
California by Major License Type1991-2000
Smoke-free Restaurants
Smoke-free Bars
Establishments
Year
Data reflects mid-year count of establishments.
Data missing for 1995 due to computer failure
and loss of data. Source State of California,
Alcohol Beverage Control (5/00)
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Number of Individuals Employed in Eating and
Drinking Places in California 1992-2000Annual
Average Labor Force
Smoke-free Restaurants
Smoke-free Bars
Number of Employees
Increase of 19.5 in 9 years as compared to a
13.5 increase for all employment statewide over
the same period.
Year
Source State of California, Employment
Development Department, Labor Force Statistics
(4/01)
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People Prefer Smokefree Establishments

• Polls show people prefer smokefree environments
• Nearly 80 of Albuquerque residents DONT smoke
• Restaurant and bar owners predicted that smokers
  would simply leave and go to Juárez that never
  happened.
• Mayor pro tem Larry Medina
• As quoted in the Albuquerque Journal, 9/15/02

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How concerned are you about the health effects of
secondhand smoke?
Concerned 83Not Concerned 16
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If you knew a restaurant was non-smoking only,
would you be more or less likely to go to it?
Likelihood of Albuquerque Voters Going to a
Non-Smoking Restaurant
More Likely 68
Less Likely 8
53
Total numbers are rounded
Research Polling, Inc. (8/02)
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If you knew a bar or nightclub was non-smoking
only, would you be more or less likely to go to
it?
Likelihood of Albuquerque Voters Going to a
Non-Smoking Bar or Nightclub
More Likely 52
Less Likely 18
40
Total numbers are rounded
Research Polling, Inc. (8/02)
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Smokefree Policies MeanMore Customers and Less
Cost

• Lower maintenance expenses (carpets, drapes,
  cloths, paintwork)
• Lower insurance premiums (fire, medical, workers
  comp, liability)
• Lower labor costs (absenteeism, productivity)

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Higher operating costs lower profit

• If a restaurant loses no business by going
  smokefree but operating costs for maintenance,
  insurance, and labor do go down net income
  should actually go up.
• Wisconsin Restaurant Association told members in
  1991 A smokefree environment has the potential
  of reducing costs to restaurant operators. There
  is simply less maintenance because there are no
  carpet or table burns less ceiling, window, and
  drapery cleaning is necessary and the risk of
  fire is greatly reduced.
• California Restaurant Association, changed its
  position to support a smoking ban throughout
  California. In 1994 helped pass AB 13.

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What About Rights/Choice?

• Hazardous working conditions are against the law
  in every other line of work, from carpentry to
  coal mining. Why should restaurants, bars or
  bowling alleys be the sole exception?
• When Big Tobacco talks about "choice," its only
  trying to take choice away from you, your
  customers, and your employees and make you pay
  for its profits.

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Smokefree Policies Are Good Business

• Save lives
• Save money
• Increase revenues
• Smoking may be a choice but breathing is not
• These policies protect kids, workers and people
  with breathing problems

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• Its About Health.
• Its About Time.