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Survey of California's Latino Renters Shows High Rates of Exposure to Drifting Tobacco Smoke Despite Home Smoking Bans |
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From Ascribe Newsfeed: Despite 95 percent of Latino families banning smoking inside their apartments, the first-ever statewide survey of Latino renters showed high rates of exposure to drifting tobacco smoke, according to the "Latino Renters Survey: Attitudes about Secondhand Smoke in Apartments," released by the Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Partnership and the American Lung Association of California's Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing. "The extensive and widespread exposure to drifting tobacco smoke documented in this survey is a call to action," said Dr. Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH, Director of the Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Partnership and faculty member at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. "This is especially important since the California Air Resources Board recently designated secondhand smoke as a toxic air contaminant, and, even more recently, the U.S. Surgeon General's Report stated unequivocally that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke." A clear majority (60 percent) of Latino renters support separate smoking and non-smoking areas in multi-unit housing, 82 percent support a law requiring a section of apartments, patios and balconies to be smoke-free, and 35 percent said that they would prefer to live in buildings that are completely smoke-free, according to the survey. Nearly 90 percent of those interviewed said that protecting the health of children, giving non-smokers the right to breathe clean air, and preventing odors and messes were among the top reasons for desiring smoke-free housing. "Based on this and other general market surveys, there is a clear demand for smoke-free multi-unit housing," said Kimberly Weich Reusche, Director of the Center for Tobacco Policy and Organizing. It assists local communities meet their policy objectives using community organizing strategies. The Center also provides policy information and analysis regarding significant tobacco control bills, tobacco industry campaign contributions, emerging issues like tobacco retailer licensing and smokefree multi-unit housing, and breaking news stories as they relate to current or future tobacco control policy.
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