Smoke Free Indy Press Release on the Big Ten Bar Guide

Foul Play: Three Schools assigned smoking home bars for the Big Ten
Smoke Free Indy to provide list of downtown smoke-free venues to basketball fans

INDIANAPOLIS – The moment basketball players receive the ball they have three options: to shoot, pass or dribble. A player who excels in all three of these tasks is called a triple threat. Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State fans visiting Indiana for the Big Ten Basketball Tournaments will face their own triple threat: the tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide in secondhand smoke.
Out of the 11 teams in the Big Ten, these three schools were assigned home bars that allow smoking, exposing fans wishing to watch the games or congregate with their peers to potential lethal damage to hearts, lungs and arteries.

“Now that Michigan is smoke-free, we [Michigan residents] expect bars to be smoke-free. It would be great to be able to visit Indianapolis without having to go back home smelling like an ashtray,” said Jason Harder, East Lansing, MI, resident and Michigan State alumnus.

Penn State is the only Big Ten team coming from a city that still allows workplace smoking. Pennsylvania state law prevents cities and communities from passing a smoke-free air law. Furthermore, twenty-four states across the nation have smoke-free air laws covering all workplaces, and of the top 15 largest U.S. cities, only Indianapolis and Philadelphia are not smoke-free.

To help these visitors feel at home Smoke Free Indy will be providing a guide listing all the smoke free bars in downtown Indianapolis. The guide also includes a list of the universities’ home bars. Fans can pick up a guide at several home bars and downtown hotels or download a copy at www.smokefreeindy.com.

“I am so thankful that the Purdue bar is smoke-free. It's great that visiting Boilermakers can still breathe smoke-free air in a city that has yet to make a commitment to protecting all its workers and patrons from secondhand smoke,” said Missy Lewis, Purdue alumna and chair of Smoke Free Indy. “Hopefully Indianapolis will take note of the success of other smoke-free cities and protect all Indianapolis residents as well as the millions of visitors who come to our great city.”

Many in the tourism and convention industry have expressed concern that the lack of a comprehensive smoke-free policy can hamper the development of tourism and convention business in Indianapolis. The American Public Health Association, for instance, will not host a conference in a city that allows indoor workplace smoking. Their annual conference draws 13,000 attendees.


- ### -

Smoke Free Indy is a coalition of state and local public health organizations, community based organizations, physicians, businesses, schools, the faith community, and Marion County residents dedicated to reducing secondhand smoke, tobacco usage and tobacco initiation through education, prevention and advocacy. For more information visit: www.smokefreeindy.com.

Five-Year Anniversary

Yesterday was an important anniversary for Indianapolis, one not really noticed by anyone but the Smoke Free Indy coalition, it was the five-year anniversary of Indianapolis' smokefree air law. On March 1, 2006, Indianapolis implemented its smokefree air law in restaurants and businesses. While at the time this was an important victory for Indianapolis and public health, five years has now lapsed and the victory seems pretty hollow, especially as countless cities and states have passed stronger policies around the nation.

It does not look like Indianapolis will pass a smoke free air law anytime soon with the lack of full support in the Council and Mayor's office. At this time our best hope is that the state can pass a strong smokefree air law this session, otherwise we may have to wait until 2012 after the election before anything can pass in Indianapolis. But let our smokefree air law serve as an example to the state legislature that if a weak law passes now it could take at least five years for the loopholes to be fixed.

Legislative Update

HB 1018, the smokefree air bill, has been sent to the Senate and assigned to the Committee on Public Policy. The Indiana Campaign for Smokefree Air is hopeful that the amendments added in the House will be removed in the Senate, i.e. exemptions for bars, private clubs, nursing homes, tobacco stores and casinos.

HB 1233, has language that would remove the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency Executive Board, this bill is in the House for 2nd reading. It is still too early to determine what this bill will mean for tobacco funding in Indiana. Last year there was a bill introduced to eliminate the Board and merge staff with ISDH, there is a good possibility that this bill is being setup to have the same language. It is important to maintain tobacco control funding in Indiana to combat the $426 million spent by tobacco companies.

HB 1001, the budget bill, has the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency in at $9.2 million. But there are efforts to reduce funding by an additional million dollars which is a bigger reduction than what is proposed for other state agencies.

HB 1405, is also making its way from the House to the Senate, this bill will bring Indiana Code up-to-date with the Federal Legislation passed in 2009 that regulates the tobacco industry.

We will keep you updated on these bills as they move through the House and Senate.

Cigarette Sales to Minors Down

Good news from the Indiana Tobacco Retailer Inspection Program, cigarette sales to minor has reached a new low, only 3.8% of retailers sold cigarettes to minors in 2010. At one point 40% of retailers in Indiana sold cigarettes to minors. This reduction is a great success for the Indiana State Excise Police and Indiana as a whole. If a retailer does not sell tobacco to a minor than that minor is less likely to become a lifetime smoker that negatively impacts their own health and the health care system as a whole.

Yesterday, Dr. Richard Feldman had a great editorial on the impact of limited tobacco funding in Indiana. Indiana's current funding for tobacco prevention is $9.2 million, far less than the CDC recommended level of $78.8 million a year.

Michigan Not Negatively Impacted By Going Smoke Free

In December, the Michigan Department of Treasury released a report, The Early Impact of Michigan's Smoking Ban, finding that the statewide smoke free air law has not made an impact on the states restaurant and bar industry. This study mirrors the many other reports from cities and states around that nation that have also found that going smoke free does not hurt bar and restaurant business and in some cases can actually increase sales.

Hopefully the state legislature will use this new data as reasoning to pass a statewide smoke free air law that covers all businesses including bars.