New US report calls for workplace smoking ban

WASHINGTON, June 28: Second-hand smoke clearly kills people and the only way to control it is to ban all smoking in workplaces, the U.S. Surgeon-General said in report that puts the Bush administration on the side of smoking restrictions.

The report by Surgeon-General Richard Carmona, which echoed the forcefulness of a 1964 Surgeon General's report that paved the way for mandatory cigarette warnings and advertising restrictions, detailed the effects of second-hand smoke and said no one should be forced to inhale it.

''The scientific evidence is now indisputable: second-hand smoke is not a mere annoyance. It is a serious health hazard that can lead to disease and premature death in children and nonsmoking adults,'' Carmona told a news conference yesterday.

The report said it is impossible to protect nonsmokers even with designated smoking areas, making a workplace ban necessary. It does not offer specific legislative proposals.

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, speaking at the same news conference, said, ''Despite the great progress that has been made, involuntary exposure to second-hand smoke remains a serious public health hazard that can be prevented by making homes, workplaces, and public places completely smoke-free.'' Carmona is a longtime smoking opponent who, during congressional testimony in 2003, endorsed banning tobacco products.

A 2005 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 3,000 people died every year in the United States from lung cancer, 46,000 died from heart disease, and 430 newborns from sudden infant death syndrome, all caused by second-hand smoke.

The Surgeon-General's report says there is no risk-free level of exposure to second-hand smoke, but that millions of Americans are exposed in homes and workplaces.

It said exposed children face an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma.

States, cities and other local authorities have battled over instituting smoking bans. Industries including bars and restaurants have said they will lose business.

The report cited a study from California, which has strict bans, as finding no impact on businesses.

BEYOND SMOKING SECTIONS Anti-smoking activists were delighted.

''This is the most significant report from the Surgeon-General on tobacco in the last decade,'' said Matthew Myers of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

''This report once and for all ends any scientific debate about whether exposure to second-hand smoke is a cause of serious diseases like lung cancer and heart disease,'' Myers added in a telephone interview.

At least 60 percent of U.S. nonsmokers show signs of exposure to second-hand smoke, Carmona wrote in a preface to the report.

''Nonsmokers need protection through the restriction of smoking in public places and workplaces and by a voluntary adherence to policies at home, particularly to eliminate exposures of children,'' he wrote.

The report says the tobacco industry has sought to cover up scientific findings on environmental tobacco smoke.

''The industry has funded or carried out research that has been judged to be biased, supported scientists to generate letters to editors that criticized research publications, attempted to undermine the findings of key studies, assisted in establishing a scientific society with a journal, and attempted to sustain controversy even as the scientific community reached consensus,'' it said.

REUTERS