Tobacco Documents Online

TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH A. Ca1LIF7kD7O, JR. BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE SUBCOMMITT&S ON CIVIL SF.R'VICg', OFF I C8 AND GENERAL SERV I CES September 30, 1985 N G-8

TBSTIMONY' OF JOSEPH A. CALIFAhTiO, JR. BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE SUHCC14MITTES ON CIVIL SERVICE, FOST' OFFICE XNIJ. GENERAL SERVICES September 310, 1985 Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee: I appreciate your invitationito testify on the Non-Smokers Rights Act ofl 1985. Mr. Chairman, this bill -- by requiring that all Federal agencies restr'ict to limited'l areas any smoking in their buildings -- will help propel us into a second major phase in the nation"s progress towards'a, smoke-free soci'ety. Twenty-one years ago Luther Terry issued'the first Surgeon General's Report on Smoking and Health., That report found cigarettes guilty of murder and mayhem by cancer, heart disease, emphysema!, and chronic bronchitis. The evidence in that first report has grown to;an avalanche of data detailing with grisly precision the toll of cigarette smoking,. It causes at least 3'60',0i00 deaths each year, 170,0!00 from heart disease, 130,0010 from cancer, and'i 60,0100 from chronic lung diseases, including: 9 810 to 815 percent oE al l d'eaths f rom lung cancer ill 40 to 60 percent of bladder cancers among men, and 25 to 3'.5 percent among, women • Up to 84 percent of' cancer of the larynx. Smoking is a major factor in G-9

C cancer of the mouth andlesophag!us and has been reLated to kidney cancer and cancer of the cervix. • Up to 90 percent of'the deaths from chronic lung disease • 40 percent of the deaths fr=coro- nary heart disease. The total financial cost of cigarette smokingi is about $65 billion each year -- more than $2'for every pack of cigarettes consumed. The cost in personal anguish, suf- fering and needlessly lost lives is incalculable. As the damage that cigarette smoking does to our health has become clear, the proportion of adult smokers has gone down. In 1965, more than half of the adult men in this country smoked; today it is just over, one-third. The per- centage of women who smoke has also declined, although not nearly as rapidly, from 3'4' to 29 percent. Smoking among, teenagers has dropped dramatically since the late 1970s. Per capita cigarette cpnsumption has been falling steadily since 19'73'. For the first time in two decades total cigarette consumption fell two years in a row in 1982 and 19'83'. These declines have taken place in spite of the tobacco industry's record-breaking levels of advertising which reached more than $2.5 billion in 1983. Now a new wave of evidence is revea1ing,the dan- gers of involuntary, second-hand smoking -- dangers that require a new set of government responses. Studies i'n Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Greece, Scotland, and the United States point to a, clear relationship between exposure to 2 G-10

other people's cigarette smoke and lung cancer. Just this month, the American Cancer Society study reported that when a woman's husband smokes a pack of cigarettes~a day, he doubles her chances of'getting lung cancer. A study spon- sored by the National Institute of'Environmental Health Sciences found evidence that non-smokers exposed to the smoke of'others have an increased risk not only of lung cancer, but of breast cancer, cervicaL cancer and leukemia as well. Mr. Chairman, there is tremendous fear in this country about AIDS, and it is a!very grave problem. We haven't yet found a c!ure for this terrible disease, but we have no excuse where smoking is concerned. Because we deny people smoke-free space, cigarette smoking is turning cancer into~America's top contagious killer. Tobacco smokee breathed by non-smokers is already killing 5',Oi001 people eachh year, according to Environanental Protection Agency re- searcher James Repace, *far more than the combined deaths from all industrial emissions regulated by the EPA. L,ast year, U.S., Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop wrote that "there is all the medi~cal evidence neces- sary" to protect the non-smoker against "The irritation and potential harm that comes from other people's smoke." Dr. Koop noted that "pollution from tobacco smoke in homes, offices, other works.ites and in, certain, public places can reach levels which exce~ed~contami~,nantle~velspermittedunderenvironmentali and occupational healith, regulations. "' Because 3 G-11

C Dr. Koop is concerned about the increasing evidence "that environmental tobacco smoke can bring about disease, includ- ing lung cancer, in healthy persons, including infants and children," he advises nonsmokers "to avoid exposure to ciga- rette smoke wherever possible" and particularly, urges that children and infants be protected from involuntary smoking. The number of states that have overcome the well- bankroll'ed efforts of the tobacco lobby and restricted smok- ing in public places has been steadily rising. Twenty-ei~ght states now, limit or ban smoking in health facilities, 17 states restrict smoking in public buildings, 14 in restau- rants, 11 in government work places and eight in private work places. Scores of towns, cities and couritri'es havee enacted such laws even in states which have not yet moved to restrict smoking in enclosed spaces. The self-serving ad- vertisi~ng campaign of the Reynolds Tobacco Company against smoke-free space attests to the impact of such policies in reduced smoking. The issue i's not smokers' rights. The issues are whether we intendito protect non-smokers from involuntarily breathing tobacco smoke, whether we care enough about our fellow human beings who smoke to encourage them to stop killing themselves, and whether we're seri!ous about the billions of dbllars of health care costs smoking causes. Cigarette smoki~ng is slow-motiorn suicide. It is tragic when 0 peaple do it to themselves, but it i's inexcusable to allow ~Cl1' ~. ~ smokers to commit slow-motion murder. . ~. ~ ~ 4 G-12 C F

As Secretary, of'HEW, I issued an order requiring that each employee's right to smoke-free space be recog- nized. After a few shakedown weeks:, all employees, smokerss and non-smokers alike, not only lived with~it, they reported that they were much happier than before. I'n April 1984, Malcolm T. Stamper, President of the Boeing Company, estab- Lished a corporate policy to create a smoke-free workplace. As an initial step, Boeing prohibited smoking in common areas throughout the workplace, such as hallways, restrooms,, lobbies, libraries, andicomputer rooms. When Stamper first put this policy in place, he expected resistance from the workers and the union,. Instead he got acceptance and appre- cia ion. Many companies are strictly limiting smoking to designated areas. Workplace no-smoking policies make health andibusiness sense because smokers are sig;nilfi1cantly less producti've and far more accident- and'illness-p.rone. The short-term, costs to business of smoking emplioyees are esti- mated at $3'00 to, $3'50 per year, with long-term effects on productivity, absenteeism and premature death raising this tolabout $1,0100 per year. Mr. Chai~rman, I have one suggestion for your con- silderation, as you continue your deliberations on this legis- lation: Stipulate that when disputes arise from policiess established under the Act, the rights of the non-smoker take precedence. This has been effective in a number of' statee and local statutes. i 5 G-13

C r . Surgeon General Koop has called, on Americans to create a smoke-fbee society by theyear 2000. Passing this legislation will send a powerful signal -- through every federal courthouse, every one of Social Security's 1300, field off'ices, every House and Senate hearing room, and. 310,000 post offices -- that the health hazards of second- hand smoke are real' and require protective measures. Itt will ensure a healthier federal workforce and a safer, more pleasant atmosphere for our citIzens who visit federal offices. Mr. Chairman, let me conclude by cong,ratuilating you on your couragie.andiyour commitment to the health and safety of'our people in sponsoring this bill. 6 G-14 N C N ~ ~ ~ N ~. Go f