Smoke Free Indy Statement on Council Action on Proposal 371

Smoke Free Indy wants to thank the councillors who have supported and led the fight to make Indianapolis a healthier city to live and work in. We were very close, and while the smoke free workplace proposal did not pass last night, we will continue to work toward having everyone protected by Indianapolis law from diseases caused by on-the-job exposure to secondhand smoke.

While Proposal 371 may have been tabled, it was not defeated on Monday night. The smokefree workplace proposal is very much alive and this issue is just as important to the workers and residents of Indianapolis today as it was yesterday and it will remain tomorrow.

The council did not adopt a comprehensive smoke free workplace policy last night, but we are hopeful and confident that they will someday, just as so many other municipalities, states and countries have done. Indianapolis was not among the first major world-class cities to adopt a comprehensive smoke free workplace policy to protect all workers, and it would not even be among the middle today, but we do not want to be the last to adopt this common sense smoke free solution that protects the health of workers and improve the economic viability and quality of life for the people of Indianapolis. We hope the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council will embrace a comprehensive smokefree workplace policy sometime in the near future.

We will continue to work to protect ALL workers from secondhand smoke exposure. Secondhand smoke is a proven cause of heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory disease and other serious health hazards, not just a mere annoyance. No one should have to choose between their jobs and their health.