State Status
Any Preemption
News Summary
More reasons to welcome the smoking ban
Publication Date: 2010-06-14
- Author:Corrine Hess
- Publication:Business Journal
We're less than one month away from the state smoking ban and a slew of new statistics have been released showing the new law couldn't come soon enough.
Milwaukee suffers 730 smoking-related deaths each year--a full 15 percent of the city's deaths overall--according to the 2010 Burden of Tobacco Report recently released by the American Cancer Society and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
Besides killing us, smoking-related health care costs totaled $300 million in Milwaukee in 2007, or $498 per person. These costs include prescription drugs, ambulatory care and care in nursing homes and hospitals.
The cost of productivity lost in Milwaukee from 2003-07 due to smoking such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer totaled $174 million, according to the report.
Wisconsin's smoke-free workplace law goes into effect July 5, prohibiting smoking in all workplaces, including all bars, restaurants, bowling centers and hotels.