Senator Charles J. Fuschillo Jr., chairman, Senate Consumer Protection Committee and New York State Senator Kemp Hannon, chairman, Senate Health Committee, were joined by Assemblyman David G. McDonough to host a public hearing regarding legislation that would strengthen New York State's Clean Indoor Air Act by making restaurants, regardless of size, smoke free.

Speakers and experts included representatives from the Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association; Central New York Chapter of the New York State Restaurant Association; Medical Society of the State of New York Task Force on Tobacco; Dutchess Putnam Restaurant and Tavern Association; Vytra Health Plans; NYPIRG; American Cancer Society; American Heart Association; American Lung Association and the Community Wellness Council of the Bellmores and Merricks. Speakers also in attendance included restaurant owners and managers from the Half Time Pub and Restaurant; Mae Brown's, Huntington Station; Piccolo's, Bellmore and De Cafe, Merrick.

According to Fuschillo, chief sponsor of the legislation, this measure would require restaurants without bars, regardless of size, to be smoke free unless a separate enclosed room is available for smokers. The smoking room would be required to have a separate ventilation system that would carry the air outside of the building. Smoking would be allowed in the bar area of a restaurant as long as it is separated from the dining area by at least a six-foot space or by a floor to ceiling partition.

New York State's Clean Indoor Air Act currently exempts restaurants with seating for under 51 patrons. Otherwise, restaurants must establish a contiguous nonsmoking area sufficient to meet customer demand, but the restaurant is not required to exceed 70 percent of its seating capacity as a nonsmoking area. Many counties have established their own standards, creating a patchwork of smoking laws statewide.

"The evidence is overwhelming that secondhand smoke is an intrusion upon people's health and well-being," said Fuschillo. "by raising the standards of New York State's Clean Indoor Air Act, we will have one consistent law throughout the state that will help protect children and nonsmokers from unnecessary secondhand smoke exposure in restaurants."

"The health hazards related to smoking should not affect those who choose not to smoke," said Hannon. "Any legislation which gives New Yorkers the opportunity to live healthier and happier lives by keeping secondhand smoke away has my full support."

According to the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, smoke from the burning end of a cigarette has more toxins than smoke inhaled by the smoker. Chemicals in secondhand smoke include formaldehyde, cyanide, arsenic, ammonia and carbon monoxide.

In a memorandum of support, the Medical Society of the State of New York said Fuschillo's legislation "would more adequately protect individuals from the health risks associated with secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke poses a significant health risk to those individuals in a confined indoor area. The Environmental Protection Agency has classified secondhand smoke as a Class A carcinogen. It is estimated that 53,000 nonsmokers are killed each year due to related illnesses from secondhand smoke. In addition, there is other documentation that secondhand smoke also exacerbates allergies and asthma in children and adults."

There is a growing wave across the nation to protect people from the dangers of secondhand smoke in restaurants, with states such as California and, most recently, Delaware, which have already adopted strict smoke-free measures. The Texas Department of Health recently conducted a study using tax data to track sales in Plano, Arlington, Wichita Falls and Austin, all of which have tough smoke-free restaurant ordinances and revealed that total restaurant sales generally continued to climb in all four cities.

"Studies show that smoke-filled rooms can have up to six times the pollution of a crowded highway," McDouough said. "If nonsmokers and children should wish to dine at a restaurant, they should not be subjected to secondhand smoke toxins in the air.

"Restaurants are more than places we go to socialize with family and friends, they are also workplaces," said Don Distasio, CEO of the American Cancer Society. "Why should choosing to work in a restaurant mean you are putting your health at risk?"

In a memorandum of support, the American Heart Association stated that Fuschillo's legislation strengthens New York State's Clean Indoor Air law and further protects the public from the damages of secondhand smoke. In 1992, the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care concluded that secondhand smoke is a major preventable cause of cardiovascular disease and death. Four thousand chemicals and at least 40 known carcinogens exist in secondhand smoke and the American Heart Association believes that legislators should act immediately to adopt legislation to increase smoke-free environments.