A Breath of Clean Air, A Global Fight
From the Choose You Blog
By: Judy Fortin, National Director of Media Relations
In the past month I have traveled through 3 continents and 18 time zones. It took coming home to Atlanta, Georgia, to make me realize how much I appreciate smoke-free, clean air.
While visiting Spain with my daughter, we sucked in more secondhand smoke in a week than we had in years. It seemed as if people were smoking everywhere: sidewalks, restaurants and especially long lines at museums. We saw one man smoking two cigarettes at the same time. It was discouraging to see so many teenage smokers. I reminded my own 18-year-old that cigarettes are addictive and bad for your health. I got no argument there; our eyes were burning by the end of our trip and our clothes reeked of smoke.
Last week, I was on another plane headed to Singapore where smoking rates are among the lowest in the world. The country was the first to ban tobacco advertising 42 years ago and has been a leader in promoting smoke-free lifestyles. It was an appropriate setting for the World Conference on Tobacco or Health (WCTOH) – a conference that attracted some of the leading global tobacco control experts who were more than ready to discuss the worldwide scourge of smoking.
The American Cancer Society and World Lung Foundation also unveiled the newest edition of The Tobacco Atlas, the definitive source of all things having to do with tobacco use. It’s not exactly casual reading, but the numbers should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Read More.
