Media Clipping — Tuesday, May 7, 2002, The PEI Guardian

Smoking ban would aid health of workers

Report states that province could save $16 million a year if it implemented smoke-free legislation municipalities want

By Doug Gallant

Findings released Monday by Dr. Ron Colman of GPI Atlantic on the economic impact of smoke-free workplaces suggests smoke-free legislation could save P.E.I. $16 million a year in health costs and productivity losses.

Colman, director of the non-profit research group, made his findings public at a press conference hosted by the Council for a Smoke-Free P.E.I. in Charlottetown.

He said legislation designed to make workplaces smoke-free would noticeably lower the province's high smoking rates and cut overall cigarette consumption by 20 per cent.

Those kinds of changes could mean the difference between life and death for many Islanders, Colman indicated.

Prince Edward Island has one of the highest smoking rates in Canada.

It is estimated tobacco use kills 225 Islanders each year. Of that number, 200 die as the result of smoking, while 25 die as the result of exposure to second-hand smoke.

If all workplaces in P.E.I. were smoke-free, as many as 60 of those lives could be saved, he said.

Second-hand smoke is the leading cause of workplace death in Canada and the third-largest cause of lung cancer, behind smoking and exposure to other hazardous substances.

Colman said second-hand smoke costs the province $1.24 million in direct health costs and $5.5 million in lost production.

Figures suggest 350 years of life are lost annually in P.E.I. because of second-hand smoke. It accounts for 140 Islanders being hospitalized for an estimated 1,500 days.

And it costs an employer $2,280 more per year to employ a smoker than it does a non-smoker.

He said the health hazards of second-hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke have been recognized by major health and science organizations around the world, including the World Health Organization and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and National Research Council.

Colman recounted the findings of research conducted across Canada and the United States which painted a tragic picture of the impact of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.

He noted, among other things, that those working in restaurants and bars are exposed to twice the amount of smoke as those who work in offices without a smoking ban.

"Bar workers are exposed to levels that are six times as high," Colman said. 'Food service workers have a 50 per cent higher rate of lung cancer than the general population...There is no other industry where we would tolerate that risk of exposure to a known carcinogen."

Colman said the dramatic impact of smoking in the workplace has been under-emphasized. In places where no-smoking legislation has been implemented, he said the changes have been significant.

He noted that in California, which does not permit smoking in any restaurant or bar, the number of teenage smokers has dropped to below seven per cent of the population. That rate is significantly higher in P.E.I.

Colman said when smoke-free legislation is introduced smokers appear to adjust quickly to the new rules.

Some in the hospitality industry have opposed such legislation fearing a decline in receipts, but Colman's research has found there is actually an economic upside.

"The large majority of non-smokers go out more often to restaurants and bars they previously avoided because of the smoke-filled atmosphere."

He noted researchers have found that simply separating smokers from non-smokers via designated smoking areas and non-smoking areas does not eliminate the exposure of non-smokers to environmental tobacco smoke.

As for the contention that specialized ventilation systems can make a significant difference, Colman said no such system is currently available that is economically viable.

Colman noted that employers who do not make their place of business smoke-free pay a price for it, and that price is getting higher.

In Australia recently, an employee who sued his employer for failing to protect him from exposure to cigarette smoke won a significant settlement.

Colman said the smoking ban being considered by the provincial government could make P.E.I. a leader in the field.

That ban, which received significant play in the National Post on Saturday, would mean that smoking would be banned not only in shopping malls, restaurants and office buildings but as well in public parks on the waterfront and even busy streets.

Such a ban has been unanimously endorsed by all municipal governments in the province.

Montague Mayor Pat McGowan, who led the municipal charge against smoking, was quoted as saying she would extend that ban right into people's homes, especially where children are involved.

Several major Canadian cities have banned smoking in public places.

Vicki Francis, president of the Council for a Smoke-Free P.E.I., said the results of Colman's extensive research on the economic impacts of smoke-free legislation and the impacts of smoking in the workplace give the council important background information.

"The savings in costs to both the health system and employers are significant," Francis said. "His results also show us that the concerns expressed by business owners that smoke-free legislation will adversely affect their sales are not supported by the overwhelming volume of data available.

Copyright © 2002, The PEI Guardian