Members of the community who frequent nightspots can support their bar owners in complying with AB 13 by knowing the facts and explaining that going smoke-free is not an attempt to control individual freedom of choice but to protect the health of employees. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Spend two hours in a smoky bar and you've involuntarily smoked four cigarettes just by breathing. Smoke from the tip of a cigarette has 20 times the cancer-causing agents as the smoke inhaled by the smoker. Women regularly exposed to secondhand smoke have double the risk of heart disease.
Bartenders have higher rates of lung cancer than firefighters, miners and dry cleaners.
Secondhand smoke kills 53,000 non-smokers in the US each year. 82 percent of Californians don't smoke. In fact 77 percent of bar patrons say they would either prefer or not be affected by a smoking ban in bars. In addition, complying with AB13 would benefit owners by reducing cleaning and maintenance costs. With the support of AB 13 by owners and patrons, bar employees will finally have the public health protection that all of California's work force have enjoyed for the past three years.