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Nanci Gonder
Public Information Officer
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The Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Richard C. Dunn, today congratulated volunteer members of a community group in Maryville for achieving what he calls “an historic public health event.” In a recent session, the Maryville City Council unanimously passed a city ordinance mandating that all restaurants within the city limits of Maryville be 100 percent free of tobacco smoke. The volunteer group, Citizens for a Smoke Free Nodaway County, had worked for, and dreamed of, passage of this type of ordinance for many years.

“This accomplishment has implications far beyond the city limits of Maryville,” Dunn said. “This is the first community in Missouri to unequivocally take a stand against the leading preventable cause of death and disease in our state, and, indeed, in our society.

“Restrictions on public smoking are the wave of the future,” Dunn said. “They balance the rights of business owners with an overriding protection for public health. For years the public has refused to tolerate unsanitary conditions that spread disease. Now we know the air you breathe can be just as hazardous, if not more so, and people are demanding safeguards,” Dunn added.

Dunn pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies secondhand cigarette smoke as a carcinogenic compound, which means it is a proven cancer-causing agent. Quoting U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics, Dunn pointed out that secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually among adult nonsmokers. He also said a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that waiters and waitresses have almost twice the risk of lung cancer due to involuntary exposure to secondhand smoke.

“In light of the facts,” Dunn said, “we wholeheartedly applaud the efforts of the members of Citizens for a Smoke Free Nodaway County and commend members of the Maryville city government for their service and dedication to the health and welfare of their community.”

Learn more about the health effects of secondhand smoke and tobacco use by calling toll-free 1-866-726-9926, or at http:// www.dhss.state.mo.us/SmokingAndTobacco.