The agency official who co-authored EPA's findings, Steven Bayard, himself is on the record as saying that he didn't think the risk of getting lung cancer from second smoke is very high. A member of the agency's Science Advisory Board told reporters that the risk of second-hand smoke amount to about the same one reporters took driving through Washington, D.C., air quality to a press conference at the National Press Club. In short, it simply isn't a serious risk. County Executive Douglas Duncan, who favors a plan that would allow smokers to light up in separately vented rooms, would seem to be in good position to make precisely these arguments in vetoing the council's plan. But he isn't.
Junk science makes junk law.
That's something which restaurant owners and patrons might want to remind the county about as they leave for jurisdictions better able to distinguish between real health risks and the politically incorrect variety. Click here to post a public comment on the Trash Talk Bulletin Board. Click here to send a private comment to the Junkman.