Ninety-five percent of Ames restaurants have chosen to remain smoke-free. For taking a stand against secondhand smoke, they deserve your support!

Members of the Ames Tobacco Task Force and thousands of Ames citizens remain grateful to the Ames City Council for having the courage to pass the smoke-free ordinance in the first place and, nearly two years later, for voting to not repeal it.

By leaving the ordinance in place, the Council symbolically demonstrated its continued support of the public health benefits of smoke-free dining.

Here are several ways citizens can thank smoke-free restaurants:

— Let restaurant owners and managers know that you appreciate their smoke-free policy.

— Bring friends and family to support smoke-free restaurants.

— Don’t patronize restaurants that do not protect the health of their workers or the eating public.

— Ask owners and managers of restaurants that are not smoke-free to go smoke-free.

Remember, this is not a smoker vs. non-smoker issue. It is a health issue only. Smokers are always welcome; it’s their secondhand smoke that is not.

Taking action against secondhand smoke is very important in light of the fact that secondhand smoke is the third-leading cause of preventable death in America — behind only primary smoking and alcohol abuse.

Second-hand smoke kills an estimated 500 — 700 Iowans each year, more than 10 times the Iowa homicide rate.

ISU student workers in smoky environments face even higher risks.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, restaurant and bar employees are at especially high risk for developing tobacco-related illnesses. The levels of secondhand smoke in the smoking sections of restaurants are about one-and-a-half to two times higher than those in typical office environments. In bars, the levels are four to six times higher. As a consequence, non-smokers who work in restaurants have 50 percent more lung cancer and 20 to 30 times more heart disease than non-smokers in the general public.

George Belitsos

Edwin Lewis

Co-Chairs

Ames Tobacco Task Force