Health
groups in Colorado are celebrating the passage of the House Bill 1175,
Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act. The Colorado House and Senate each
approved a strengthened version of the bill after a conference
committee removed exemptions for bars, private clubs, bingo and dog
tracks. Casinos are still exempted in the final bill. The bill now goes
to Governor Owens’ desk for his signature. The Governor has indicated
that he will sign the legislation. If signed, the law will take effect
on July 1st.
“This
is a major victory for the people of Colorado,” said Rex Wilmouth,
director of CoPIRG (Colorado Public Interest Research Group). “It’s a
big day for the people of Colorado, given 80 percent of the population
does not smoke. They can now go in bars and restaurants and breathe
clean air. We look forward to the Governor signing this bill into law.”
The
bill took a long and bumpy road to get to this point. As originally
introduced in the House, it would have required almost every enclosed
work place and public place to be smoke-free, including restaurants,
bars and casinos. The House exempted casinos and small employers that
do not allow the public to enter before sending the bill to the Senate.
The Senate then dramatically weakened the bill, adding exemptions for
bars, private clubs, bingo and dog tracks. It took a conference
committee composed of three members from each house to put the bill
back into the form passed by the House of Representatives.
The one big disappointment for health groups is the exemption for casinos.
“While
we celebrate the passage of this bill, we a very sad that casinos
workers have not been granted the same protection as almost every other
worker in the state,” said Wilmouth. There are over 8,000 casino
employees in Colorado. We vow to continue working to ensure that
casinos become safe, smoke-free environments in the near future.
Everyone has the right to breathe clean air.”
There
has been an enormous outpouring of public support since the bill was
introduced. More than 216 businesses and organizations, as well as a
number of elected officials and City Councils, endorsed this important
legislation.
Additionally,
a poll commissioned by the American Cancer Society in 2005 showed that
66% of registered voters in Colorado support a bill that requires all
restaurants, bars and casinos to be smoke-free. Support is very strong
among registered Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
Second-hand
smoke is responsible for 53,000 deaths annually among adult nonsmokers
in the U.S. – deaths caused by heart disease, lung cancer and other
diseases.
