OCTOBER
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
Smokefree Workplace Law for Alaska Effective Today
On Tuesday, July 17, 2018, Gov. Bill
Walker signed
into law the Smokefree Alaska bill, SB63, which prohibits smoking in
enclosed public places and workplaces, including buses and taxis, stores, bars
and restaurants. The law is effective today— Oct. 1, 2018 — and is recorded in
Alaska Statute as AS 18.35.301.
Many organizations worked together
over a number of years to support the law’s passage. Those organizations
include the American
Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the American
Lung Association in Alaska, the American Heart
Association, AARP,
the Alaska Native Tribal
Health Consortium, among other groups and individuals.
Finding online resources for the new law
The State of Alaska Tobacco Prevention
and Control Program has developed a Smokefree
Workplace website to provide more information and to share
resources, including no-smoking signs. The State of Alaska also offers free
tobacco cessation support to all Alaskans through Alaska’s Tobacco Quit Line.
People can call (800) QUITNOW, or (800) 784-8669. They also can visit
alaskaquitline.com to connect with a quit coach and start quitting tobacco use.
How this law will improve public health
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) supports smokefree policies as a population-based best
practice that protects the public from secondhand smoke to improve public
health. Reducing
secondhand smoke
can lower the risk for a number of serious illnesses, including stroke, heart
disease, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), low birth weight and lung cancer.
It can save the expense of health care dollars for medical care and hospital
admissions, as well as save businesses the cost of lost productivity.
Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at work are more
likely to develop heart disease, lung cancer or other diseases.
Secondhand
smoke is defined in two ways:
1. Secondhand smoke is smoke from burning
cigarettes, cigars and pipes, as well as smoke exhaled by the person smoking.
2. Secondhand aerosol is the exhaled vapor
from electronic devices such as e-cigarettes, vape pens/personal vaporizers and
e-hookah.
How does the law
define smoking?
Smoking
means using any of the following:
- Cigarettes
- E-cigarettes
- Cigars
and pipes
- Other
oral smoking devices that contain tobacco or marijuana.
Where smoking is not allowed
Beginning Oct. 1, 2018, smoking and vaping
is not allowed in enclosed public spaces and places of employment. “Place of
employment” means work areas, private offices, hotel and
motel rooms, employee lounges, restrooms, conference rooms, classrooms,
cafeterias, hallways, vehicles, and other employee work areas that are under
the control of an employer.
No-smoking signs must be posted, indoor
ashtrays and other smoking accessories will disappear, and customers and
employees who have been allowed to smoke inside will be asked to take it
outside.
Signs
can be downloaded online
to print and post. People can order printed versions of the signs. For more
information,
send
an email or call toll-free at (855) 877-6100.
The Smokefree Workplace Law will be
enforced through a complaint-driven system. Complaints can be filed here.
Where smoking is allowed
Smoking or vaping is allowed in
private residences and personal vehicles, in a business vehicle if it’s allowed
by the owner or employer and used exclusively by only one person, and other
outdoor areas specifically identified as allowing smoking.
|
