The American Cancer Society - in partnership with the Smoke-Free Dallas coalition - is calling on the Dallas mayor and city council to expand the current smoke-free ordinance to eliminate smoking in all public and work places, including bars.  A recent poll shows that Dallas voters overwhelmingly support a comprehensive smoke-free ordinance.

In 2003, then-members of the Dallas City Council passed an ordinance that prohibited smoking in all restaurants in the city—impressive in a city with more restaurants per capita than just about any other city in the country.  Today, however, Dallas’ ordinance is considered weak by current standards.  It exempts stand-alone taverns and bars and restaurants are not required to enforce a smoke-free environment.

The current proposed smoke-free ordinance would protect all of Dallas’ employees, residents and visitors from the premature death and chronic disease caused by secondhand smoke by making workplaces smoke free, eliminating smoking in all restaurants and stand-alone bars, and strengthening enforcement.

There simply is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.  To get involved with the Smoke-Free Dallas campaign, please visit smokefreedallas.org

Your American Cancer Society continues to work in communities across Texas to reduce the public’s exposure to secondhand smoke, which is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States.  53,000 people die each year from exposure to secondhand smoke, and a person breathing secondhand smoke for 8 hours has the same amount nicotine in their blood as someone who has smoked a full pack of cigarettes.

For more information about smoke-free efforts in Texas, please visit smokefreetexas.org