Montana moving in the right direction on smoking

To the Editor:

Every pack of cigarettes bought in the United States costs society about $7 — half from medical costs, the other half from lost productivity due to illness.

Locally, four Montanans die from tobacco-related illnesses every day.

America's chief health educator and health authority, the U.S. surgeon general, recently released a report on secondhand tobacco smoke, and in this report he concludes that breathing secondhand tobacco smoke can cause disease and premature death in children and adults who do not smoke. Children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. And exposure by adults to secondhand tobacco smoke can have immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer.

The good news is that Montana is moving in the right direction to address this public health crisis. Montana is currently one of 14 states that has passed comprehensive smoke-free laws, with our Montana Clean Indoor Air Act which took effect on Oct. 1, 2005. According to the Surgeon general, eliminating smoking from indoor spaces is the only effective way to fully protect the public from exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. We are getting closer to achieving that standard as a result of our state law.

Factual information such as that released in the surgeon general's report confirms the appropriateness and wisdom behind Montana's Clean Indoor Air Act and assures Montanans are advancing in a positive, healthy direction for our state.

Barb Guthneck