This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The state of Utah is proud to have one of the lowest smoking rates of any state in the nation. Smoking is not allowed in restaurants or bars. Office buildings are not filled with employees smoking at their desks. With few exceptions, smokers in our state who want to light up must go outside. However, Salt Lake City International Airport is one glaring exception.
Salt Lake's airport hosts five indoor smoking rooms, making it one of just eight of the 35 busiest airports in the United States that allow indoor smoking. We commend Mayor Jackie Biskupski for her plans to change this. The health impacts of breathing secondhand smoke are well known, as secondhand smoke contains the same 7,000 chemicals, including 69 that cause cancer, as inhaling your own cigarette, and carry similar health risks. Respiratory infections and even Sudden Infant Death Syndrome are also tied to secondhand smoke exposure. We look forward to a smoke-free Salt Lake City airport, where travelers and employees alike are breathing safer air.
With more and more airports getting rid of indoor smoking rooms, and for good reason, Salt Lake City is currently behind the curve by still having smoking rooms at all. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report in 2012 that found ventilated rooms and designated smoking areas in airports are not effective in eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke for the majority of air travelers who don't smoke and employees who work at an airport. The CDC found that the air pollution levels from secondhand smoke outside the smoking areas were five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports.
There's a big smoking price tag for Utah taxpayers as well. This year, it is estimated the annual health costs directly caused by smoking in the state will reach $542 million, and that is not counting the $355 million in smoking-caused lost productivity.
Big Tobacco has helped support many smoking lounges here and elsewhere, and they're fighting to keep airports from becoming smoke-free. But it is our airport, and we should stand with Biskupski, who vows to eliminate our airport smoking rooms by the end of 2016.
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights and the Utah Tobacco Free Alliance applaud Biskupski for her pledge to put the health of all travelers and airport employees first and eliminate all indoor smoking at the Salt Lake City Airport. This is the time to show the world that Salt Lake City, including its international airport, puts the health of citizens and visitors at the forefront of public health policy.
Brook Carlisle is the Utah Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Cynthia Hallett, MPH, is president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, a national, member-based non-profit. Jamie Riccobono is the chair of the Utah Tobacco-Free Alliance.