(Owego, NY)- Tobacco Free Broome & Tioga Reality Check youth conducted a tobacco litter clean-up throughout the Village of Owego which included the Owego Riverwalk, Draper Park, Ahwaga Park and the connecting riverbank trail. These findings will be shared with the Owego Village Board on August 19th to educate about the effects of tobacco litter, secondhand smoke exposure, and local policy options to combat these issues within the community.
What does this mean?
In New York State, the Clean Indoor Air Act, in effect since 2003, prevents smoking inside public workplaces, such as businesses, organizations, stores, schools, etc. However, this law does not prohibit smoking in outdoor areas. Due to concerns about the health effects of exposure to secondhand smoke outdoors, and to respect the rights of individuals to breath clean air, municipalities, agencies and businesses in Broome and Tioga counties (and throughout New York State) have adopted tobacco free outdoor policies.
Why is a tobacco free outdoor policy important?
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has identified tobacco smoke as a human carcinogen placing it in the same category as radon, benzene, and asbestos. The Surgeon General has stated that “there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.” Even low levels of exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to disease and death.
Tobacco Free Outdoor Policies:
- Encourage healthy living habits. Tobacco use in family-friendly places models unhealthy behavior and normalizes the use of tobacco. When children see adults smoking, they see smoking as an acceptable behavior and one they might aspire to. In addition, tobacco free policies make it easier for current smokers trying to quit by removing a trigger to smoke. Studies show that 70% of smokers would like to quit.
- Prevent the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. Even outdoors, individuals can be exposed to levels of secondhand smoke as high as those indoors, depending on weather conditions and proximity to the smoker. Because their lungs are smaller, children breathe in 50% more air pollution than an adult. Allergies, asthma attacks and other health problems can be triggered by even small amounts of secondhand smoke exposure.
- Keep grounds cleaner and protect our children. Americans alone discard more than 4.5 trillion cigarette butts every year. According to the National Institutes of Health, Tobacco products containing nicotine are responsible for more than 10,000 telephone calls to poison control centers in the United States each year; the majority of these calls involve accidental ingestion of tobacco products by young children.
Reality Check is an advocacy organization that mobilizes youth against the manipulative tobacco industry by collectively working to educate our communities to help usher in a tobacco free generation.
