According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no states in the Southeast have a statewide comprehensive smoke-free law.
"Ten years ago, the Surgeon General concluded there is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "We've made great progress in protecting many Americans from secondhand smoke exposure, but millions of Americans, especially those living in southeastern states, are still unprotected from this completely preventable health hazard."
Exposure to secondhand smoke are linked to heart disease and lung cancer that killed more than 41,000 American non-smokers annually.
"Smoke-free laws provide a low-cost, high-impact benefit to the public's health," said Corinne Graffunder, Dr.P.H., director of CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "These laws substantially improve indoor air quality, help smokers quit, prevent youth and young adults from starting to smoke, change social norms about the acceptability of smoking, and reduce heart attack and asthma hospitalizations among non-smokers."
The number of states with comprehensive smoke-free laws increased from zero in 2000 to 26 by 2010, including the District of Columbia.
Overall, the CDC discovered that almost 60 percent of Americans are covered by comprehensive smoke-free laws at the state or local level, compared with less than 3 percent in 2000.
According to experts secondhand smoke causes the following:
-Ear infections
-More frequent and severe asthma attacks
-Respiratory symptoms (for example, coughing, sneezing, and shortness of breath)
-Respiratory infections (bronchitis and pneumonia)
-A greater risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
The report was published June 23 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
