Push for statewide smoking ban gaining momentum

Survey shows most community leaders in Kansas support ban

? The tide is turning in favor of a statewide ban on smoking in public indoor places, officials said Wednesday.

A new survey was released that shows most community leaders in Kansas support snuffing out cigarettes in venues such as restaurants, bars and businesses.

State Sen. David Wysong, R-Shawnee Mission, said the Legislature should enact a statewide smoking ban when it meets in January.

“The sooner we take care of this on a statewide level the sooner we will spend less money,” in health care costs, said Wysong, who has championed smoking bans in the past.

The new study funded by the Sunflower Foundation surveyed city clerks and governing board members in 57 cities in Kansas.

Nearly 64 percent of respondents said a smoking ban should be implemented locally, and 63 percent said it should be implemented by the state, according to the survey.

“Our findings provide evidence that community leaders want to see a smoking ban implemented either at the local or state level,” said Dr. John Neuberger, who conducted the study. Neuberger is a nationally known epidemiologist and professor of preventive medicine and public health at the Kansas University Medical Center.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing an estimated 438,000 deaths each year, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and in Kansas, killing more than prostate, colon and breast cancers combined. Approximately 80 percent of cases are attributed to smoking.

Health officials have said the annual health care cost in Kansas caused by smoking is nearly $1 billion.

Wysong’s proposed ban was held up in the Legislature last year after opposition was lodged by some businesses. Some said business owners should be able to decide for themselves whether to allow smoking.

But Wysong said, “It’s not a private rights issue anymore. It’s a health issue.”

He said he believed the chances were good that when the Legislature meets in 2009 it will approve a smoking ban.