Saint Paul Legislative Code § 238.01 Purposes and findings of fact.
Sec. 238.01. - Purposes and findings of fact.
The city council finds that:
Tobacco smoke is a leading cause of disease in nonsmokers and a major source of indoor air pollution. Secondhand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer, respiratory infections, decreased respiratory function and other health problems. Secondhand smoke kills an estimated thirty-five thousand (35,000) to sixty-two thousand (62,000) Americans each year from coronary heart disease. Secondhand smoke also causes an estimated three thousand (3,000) lung cancer deaths in America each year.
These effects are well documented, and numerous medical and scientific authorities, including the American Medical Association, the Surgeon General, the National Institute on Occupational Safety and Health, the National Cancer Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Toxicology Program and the World Health Organization have recognized the deadly effects of exposure to secondhand smoke. The proposed Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, a global treaty negotiated by more than one hundred ninety (190) countries, declares that "scientific evidence has unequivocally established that exposure to tobacco smoke causes death, disease and disability."
There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke. Science has been unable to find any level of dilution at which smoke does not cause cancer. Neither the separation of smokers and nonsmokers, nor the introduction of new ventilation systems, can eliminate the health hazards caused by secondhand smoke.
Employees in smoky workplaces are at special risk. One study has estimated that working in a smoky bar for eight (8) hours is equivalent to smoking sixteen (16) cigarettes. Also at special risk are children, elderly people, and those with cardiovascular disease or impaired respiratory function, including people with asthma and those with obstructive airway disease.
Objective evidence does not bear out the fear that elimination of public smoking will harm a community's economy or result in a net loss of jobs in restaurants and bars. On the contrary, many independent economic studies have shown that the elimination of smoking has no material economic impact on a community. These studies are drawn from the experience of hundreds of communities that have successfully eliminated smoking in workplaces and public places. The states of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and New York have adopted laws ending all smoking in bars, restaurants, and other public places, as have the nations of Ireland, New Zealand and Norway.
By reducing the exposure of young people to adult smoking and unhealthy role modeling, elimination of smoking in public places furthers the state's goal of reducing youth smoking.
There is no legal or constitutional "right to smoke." Business owners have no legal or constitutional right to expose their employees and customers to toxic chemicals, whether in tobacco smoke or otherwise. On the contrary, employers have a common law duty to provide their workers with a workplace that is not unreasonably dangerous.
Accordingly, the city council finds and declares that the purpose of this chapter is to:
(1) Protect the public health, welfare and safety by better ensuring the ability of citizens to breathe safe and uncontaminated air;
(2) Affirm that the right to breathe has priority over the desire to smoke; and
(3) Protect vulnerable populations, including employees, children, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions.
(C.F. No. 05-1074, § 1, 1-11-06)