Senator Charles J. Fuschillo, Jr. recently announced that the Senate has advanced his legislation to strengthen New York State's Clean Indoor Air Act by making restaurants, regardless of size, smoke free. The Assembly is expected to take action as well.

Endorsed by the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Medical Society of the State of New York, Center for a Tobacco Free New York and other health-related organizations, Fuschillo's legislation 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.

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 non smokers are killed each year due to related illnesses from secondhand smoke. Recent studies have concluded that ventilation alone does not remove carcinogens from the air. In addition, there is documentation that secondhand smoke also exacerbates allergies and asthma in children and adults."

"Studies show that smoke-filled rooms can have up to six times the pollution of a crowded highway," Fuschillo 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 dangers 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, 4,000 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.

""The evidence is overwhelming that secondhand smoke is an intrusion upon other people's health and well-being," said Fuschillo. "By raising the standards of New York State's Clean Indoor Air Act, we will help protect children and non smokers from unnecessary secondhand smoke exposure in restaurants."

The New York State Senate recently passed legislation (S.1452), sponsored by Senator Fuschillo, that would regulate the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic mail advertising, commonly known as "spam."

"Junk 'spam' can be just as frustrating and intrusive as junk mail and sales phone calls from telemarketers," said Fuschillo who authored the New York State Telemarketer 'Do Not Call' Registry law. "This legislation would go a long way toward ending the practice of 'spamming' to help people keep their e-mail inboxes free of unwanted, and often obscene, messages."

'Spam" is a term used within the Internet community to describe unsolicited commercial electronic mail. "Spamming" is a form of advertisement where the "spammer" sends out a large number of unsolicited e-mail advertisements to unsuspecting recipients. Often, "spam" consists of advertisements for pornographic websites and phone numbers, unproven herbal medicines, questionable real estate sales, and illegal devices such as cable descramblers. "Spam" mail takes up space in the memory of the recipients' computer and slows the channels of communication. People who advertise with "spam" have the capacity to transmit thousands of messages daily.

The bill was forwarded to the Assembly.