Maryland Bids To Become 7th Smokefree Workplace State

Annapolis, 12/16/03... At a news conference in Annapolis (MD) today, two legislators joined with health groups and bar and restaurant workers to announce their intention to introduce smokefree workplace legislation.

"It needs to happen now. It needs to happen today," said Delegate Barbara Frush, who will be introducing legislation in Maryland's House of Delegates.

"People are speaking out and saying, 'We want a clean work environment,'" added Senator Ida Ruben, who will be introducing legislation in Maryland's State Senate.

"I work in a bar and restaurant," said Jen Valente, head of Maryland BREATHE (Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment).  "Our right to breathe clean air is just as important as others.  Bar and restaurant employees are NOT second rate citizens and should not be treated as such."  She urged legislators to "protect all workers, including bar and restaurant employees, people like me, from the poisons of tobacco smoke."

The fate of Maryland's smokefree workplace proposal is expected to rest largely with Senate President Mike Miller, who has opposed smokefree workplace legislation in the past but did not indicate his position today.

"People live and learn," says Joe Cherner, president of SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc., the nation's largest smokefree advocacy group.  "Perhaps Senator Miller has learned something that he didn't know before.  We've seen many legislators come onboard in recent years when they learn about diseases caused by tobacco smoke."

If Maryland passes smokefree workplace legislation, it will become the nation's 7th smokefree workplace state joining California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts.  Other states, such as Florida, Vermont, and Utah, have passed partial smokefree workplace laws, addressing restaurants but not bars.

Earlier this year, Montgomery County (Maryland's wealthiest county), passed comprehensive smokefree workplace legislation.  Talbot County (MD) is expected to join them shortly.

Excerpted from smokefree.net 12/17/03