Herman Cain champions cigarettes and secondhand smoke in his latest campaign ad. Cain should be ashamed.

Women who contract breast cancer from exposure to secondhand smoke can give a big, slow-burning smile for Herman Cain – as they take their radiation treatments.  Children suffering from asthma can thank Herman Cain when people light up cigarettes around them and they can’t get enough air in their lungs.  Babies exposed to secondhand smoke because their parents see Cain as a role model for the freedom to smoke can thank Herman for a lifetime of suffering.

The American Cancer Society and American Lung Association have so far remained silent.  It’s been about a week since Cain’s campaign ad went “viral,” but nary a word has been heard from these organizations. Perhaps they need more time.  Let’s hope.

Run for the Cure so far remains silent. Why is that?  The American Heart Association remains silent.

While Fox “talking heads” said little, CNN commentators were positively giddy over Cain’s ad. They couldn’t get enough of it.

Is CNN taking (or planning on taking) money from cigarette companies?

Tens of thousands of American women suffer/die from cancer and heart attacks each year due to cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke exposure.

Herman Cain treats their misery and deaths like a joke. He also thinks physically beating up liberals is a joke. (That’s another “popular” Cain campaign ad.)

And the media just laps it up.

Romney and Perry remain silent. Gosh, Rick, you cared so much about young girls contracting cancer – why are you silent now? How about it Michelle? Kids are exposed to Cain’s dangerous campaign ad, and you don’t utter a word? You attack Perry for trying to stop cancer but don’t bat an eyelash when Cain turns cigarette toxins into a joke? According to Cancer.org, Infants of mothers who smoke during and after pregnancy are 3 to 4 times more likely to die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Too bad, Herman, they won’t have a chance to vote for you.

Why hasn’t a single Republican candidate chastised Cain? Because he’s Black?  (They’re not afraid to attack Obama.) Popular with the Tea Party? Popular with cigarette smokers?

In 2006, Cain was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer in his colon. He survived.

Those enticed to smoke and/or exposed to secondhand smoke may not be so lucky. So let’s give Herman Cain a few statistics to laugh at – courtesy of Cancer.org

Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for:

- An estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are currently non-smokers
- About 3,400 lung cancer deaths as a result of breathing secondhand smoke
- Other breathing problems in non-smokers, including coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function
- 50,000 to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age
- Increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma
- More than 750,000 middle ear infections in children
-

Maine is the first state in the nation to protect public housing tenants from secondhand smoke. Condos and coops should learn a lesson or two.

The law is on our side! Learn more about existing laws and cases.

By Knox County Community Health Coalition | Aug 09, 2011

100% of Maine Housing Authorities Adopt No-Smoking Policies. Forty-seven percent of Maine renters now live in smoke-free housing

Knox County Community health Coalition (KCCHC), a local Healthy Maine Partnership, celebrated with The Partnership For A Tobacco-Free Maine, Maine CDC, and others the success of our State around smoke-free housing.  The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine, The Breathe Easy Coalition of Maine and other partners have had a triumphant year promoting smoke-free housing through MaineHousing’s www.MaineHousingSearch.com.  Now 100% of Maine’s Public Housing Authorities have adopted smoke-free policies.  These policies have led to reduced tobacco use and tobacco-free living throughout Maine, making Maine the first state in the USA to protect tenants from second hand smoke.

On January 1, 2012, tenants who live in Maine public housing authorities will be protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke.  Each of the 20 public housing authorities across Maine has now adopted a smoke-free policy.  Though 250 public housing authorities throughout the Nation have passed policies, Maine is the first State in the Nation to have all of its public housing authorities achieve this level of protection for their residents.

The Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine is a unique public–private partnership that has been working with public housing authorities and property owners throughout Maine since 2004.  and receives support from the Partnership For A Tobacco-Free Maine at the Maine CDC.

The Breathe Easy Coalition is an umbrella coalition of the Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine, Maine Tobacco-Free Hospital Network, and Maine Tobacco-Free College Network.

“We know that in Maine over 75% of tenants surveyed want to live in smoke-free housing.  Our goal is to have the supply of smoke-free housing meet that demand,” says Nancy Laite, Healthy Maine Program Specialist for KCCHC.

For more information on smoke-free housing, or how to find smoke-free housing in Knox County, contact Nancy Laite, Knox County Community Health Coalition,nllaite2@myfairpoint.net or 236-6313 ext. 2.

Re: Non-smokers rights.

Dear Board Member:

New owners and renters should henceforth be advised that their health and lives are in potential peril from the toxic air circulating through our ventilation system. Grandparents and parents should be warned to cover the faces of small children as they walk through our hallways. Children should not be allowed to crawl on the carpet or touch the walls on our corridor.

The following article appeared in the National Library of Science.

Smokers’ Former Homes May Retain Tobacco Toxins

Residues in walls, ceilings could pose harm to new residents, study finds.

The study echoes the findings of another report on smoking-tainted living spaces published online Dec. 13 in Pediatrics. That study, from the University of Rochester Medical Center, found that children living in nonsmoking apartments were exposed to smoke from neighbors’ apartments that seeped through walls or traveled through building ventilation systems.

FRIDAY, Dec. 17 The health of nonsmokers who move into homes previously inhabited by smokers could be threatened by tobacco toxins lodged in dust and on surfaces, a new study finds. This so-called “thirdhand smoke” was found on surfaces even after the homes had been vacant for two months and cleaned and repainted, said researchers reporting online Dec. 17 in Tobacco Control.

“We found that thirdhand smoke is trapped on surfaces like walls and ceilings and in household dust and carpets left over by previous residents,” study author Georg Matt, a psychology professor at San Diego State University, said in a university news release. “The homes of smokers become reservoirs of tobacco smoke pollutants. When new nonsmoking tenants come in contact with polluted surfaces and inhale suspended microscopic dust, they are unknowingly exposed to tobacco smoke toxins.”

The researchers say that thirdhand smoke includes smoking-linked pollutants that linger on surfaces and dust and get re-emitted back into the air or react to oxidants to become secondary toxins.

In the study, Matt’s team examined the homes of 50 nonsmokers and 100 smokers before and after they moved out. They measured levels of nicotine on surfaces within the homes, in the air and on participants’ fingers. The team also collected urine samples from nonsmoking residents after they moved into new homes and analyzed them for traces of cotinine, a marker for tobacco smoke exposure.

The researchers found higher levels of tobacco-linked contamination in dust and surfaces of homes formerly inhabited by smokers versus nonsmoker homes. Levels of nicotine on fingers were also higher among new residents of former smokers’ homes, which also correlated with levels of contaminants on surfaces and in dust, and with urine cotinine levels.

The researchers stressed… that the residues could pose special risks to babies and toddlers who tend to crawl on floors or suck on items in the home.

The study echoes the findings of another report on smoking-tainted living spaces published online Dec. 13 in Pediatrics. That study, from the University of Rochester Medical Center, found that children living in nonsmoking apartments were exposed to smoke from neighbors’ apartments that seeped through walls or traveled through building ventilation systems.

Secondhand Smoke Legislative & Policy Updates

No-Smoking Underwater – New York Times. The Navy announced a decision in April 2010 to ban smoking in submarines. The decision followed a year-long study on nine submarines that found unacceptable levels of secondhand smoke when the subs are submerged.

New smoking ban for Michigan citizens – MSU State News. On May 1, 2010 Michigan became the 38th state to ban smoking from all workplaces, restaurants and bars. Exceptions include gambling floors of casinos, cigar bars, tobacco specialty stores, home offices and motor vehicles.

Proposal: Ban smoking in cars with kids – Miami Herald. Tampa Bay students argue for anti-smoking bill (April, 2010). According to the Centers for Disease Control almost 60% of children in the US aged 3-11 are exposed to secondhand smoke. “The legislation would make it illegal to smoke in a car when children younger than 16 are present…It would be a secondary offense, so an officer could not pull someone over because they are smoking. But if they are stopped for another reason and are in violation, it would count against them. A violation would result in a $100 penalty, although the bill gives the officer the latitude to issue a warning and give the person anti-smoking information. Florida is one of 23 states to propose similar legislation and would join four others that have enacted such laws.”

Berkeley scientists warn that third-hand smoke is an unappreciated health hazard and suggest a complete ban on smoking in homes and vehicles. The researchers found substantial levels of toxins on smoke-exposed materials. They conclude that nicotine stains on clothing, furniture and wallpaper can react with a common indoor pollutant to generate dangerous chemicals called tobacco-specific nitrosamines or TSNAs.

While banishing smokers to outdoors cuts second-hand smoke, residues will follows the smoker back inside.

CLICK HERE to protect yourself and your family from second-hand and third-hand smoke exposure.

As reported on the BBC:

In the tests, contaminated surface exposed to “high but reasonable” amounts of the pollutant nitrous acid – emitted by unvented gas appliances and in car exhaust – boosted levels of newly formed TSNAs 10-fold…

Toxic particles from cigarette smoke can linger on surfaces long after the cigarette has been put out, and small children are particularly susceptible because they are likely to breathe in close proximity, or even lick and suck them, they say.

Researcher Lara Gundel, of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, said: “Smoking outside is better than smoking indoors but nicotine residues will stick to a smoker’s skin and clothing.

“ The most important step parents can take to protect their families from the dangers of cigarette smoke is to make their homes and cars smokefree ” ~ Ed Young of Cancer Research UK

“Those residues follow a smoker back inside and get spread everywhere. The biggest risk is to young children.

“Dermal uptake of the nicotine through a child’s skin is likely to occur when the smoker returns and if nitrous acid is in the air, which it usually is, then TSNAs will be formed.”

They are now doing more research to better understand what threat, if any, TSNAs pose.

Amanda Sandford of Action on Smoking and Health said: “The harmful effects of second-hand smoke are already well-established but this study adds a new dimension to the dangers associated with smoking and provides further evidence of the need to protect children, in particular, from exposure to tobacco smoke.

“The study shows that the residue of smoke on surfaces represents a potential risk for cancer but so far we don’t know how big at risk.”

Ed Young of Cancer Research UK said: “This is an interesting piece of research that adds the possibility of an extra level of harm from tobacco smoke.

“There is clear evidence about the harmful effects of second-hand smoke to children, especially in homes and cars.

“The most important step parents can take to protect their families from the dangers of cigarette smoke is to make their homes and cars smokefree.”

CLICK HERE to protect yourself and your family from second-hand and third-hand smoke exposure.