Michigan smoking ban necessary, according to a new report

Publication Date: 2010-12-13

• Author:Juliana Keeping
• Publication:AnnArbor.com

A new report from the U.S. Surgeon General says even a little tobacco smoke can cause a lot of damage.

The Michigan Department of Community Health is hailing the report as evidence the ban on smoking was necessary, as are investments in tobacco prevention programming, it said in a release Friday.

Occasional smoking or secondhand smoke can cause serious illness because tissue and cellular damage are immediate, according to the report "How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease." Over time and with repeated exposure, the body's ability to heal that damage weakens, the report says.

In December, 2009, the Michigan Senate and House passed the Michigan smoking ban that prohibited smoking in bars and restaurants, but not casinos and cigar bars.