Workplace smoking ban will result in major health benefits

To what extent would a workplace smoking ban in Tennessee affect the market for Tennessee-grown tobacco? Any reasonable person would conclude that the effect would be minimal.

What effect would it have on the health of Tennesseans? Every study on the problem of secondhand smoke points toward the conclusion that banning smoking in indoor workplaces, including bars and restaurants, would have significant health benefits. Decreases in public health care costs and increases in productivity would not be insignificant.

A workplace smoking ban passed by the state Senate last week is on the agenda for the House Agriculture Committee this week.
As guardians of the farming industry’s vitality and traditions, the Agriculture Committee has an important role to play in state government.

But the question of whether to allow smoking in the workplace is a health issue that the full chamber should have an opportunity to debate, consider and decide.
Sentiment is stronger than ever before in Tennessee ‘ a state with one of the nation’s highest rates of cigarette consumption and the diseases that go along with it ‘ to take a positive stand on this question.

To leave it bottled up in the Agriculture Committee would be a disservice to the citizens whom the committee’s members are sworn to serve.