Resolution 000172

..Title Authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold public hearings in order to evaluate and assess the adverse health effects caused from exposure to secondhand smoke by taking testimony from health organizations, health advocates and public health officials, by reviewing reports and studies published by federal and state government agencies and institutions, educational institutions, and health research organizations; by examining the approaches adopted by other cities and states to limit the public health risks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke; and by discussing and analyzing policies which would address the public health concerns associated with exposure to secondhand smoke in order to protect the health of the citizens of the City of Philadelphia. ..Body WHEREAS, Secondhand smoke is a complex mixture of chemicals generated from the escaping of smoke from a burning tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by the smoker; and WHEREAS, The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance which causes cancer in humans for which there is no safe level of exposure; and WHEREAS, A 1986 report from the United States Surgeon General, a 1986 report from the National Research Council, a 1992 report from the EPA, and a 1997 report from the California Environmental Protection Agency all concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke is a cause of lung cancer and other diseases in healthy nonsmokers; and WHEREAS, The EPA estimates that approximately 3,000 American nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke; and WHEREAS, A 1999 report published by the New England Journal of Medicine concluded that secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease by 20-30% in nonsmokers; and WHEREAS, Over 100 other major studies in the past 13 years have examined the health effects of secondhand smoke and found that it is injurious to an individual's health; and WHEREAS, In order to fully understand the threat to public health resulting from the adverse health effects associated with secondhand smoke, it is necessary to evaluate and assess all up-to-date information, data, and research; and WHEREAS, In order to protect the public's health, in 1993, Philadelphia Mayor Edward Rendell issued Executive Order No.12-93 which prohibited smoking in all City-owned and occupied spaces to which the public has access; and WHEREAS, It is important to review the policies and approaches adopted by other states and cities intended to reduce the public health risks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke; and WHEREAS, In order to further protect the health of the citizens of the City of Philadelphia, it is important to discuss and analyze measures which would address the adverse health effects that result from exposure to secondhand smoke; now therefore RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Council Committee on Public Health and Human Services be authorized to hold public hearings in order to evaluate and assess the adverse health effects caused from exposure to secondhand smoke by taking testimony from health organizations, health advocates and public health officials; by reviewing reports and studies published by federal and state government agencies and institutions, educational institutions, and health research organizations; by examining the approaches adopted by other cities and states to limit the public health risks associated with exposure to secondhand smoke; and by discussing and analyzing policies which would address the public health concerns associated with exposure to secondhand smoke in order to protect the health of the citizens of the City of Philadelphia.