EDITORIAL: VFW fine is appropriate to uphold smoking ban

Publication Date: 2005-02-09

• Author:Editorial
• Publication:Portland (ME) Press-Herald

The American Lung Association says that secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in non-smoking adults each year. It's really bad for kids, too, causing hundreds of thousands of cases of respiratory infections annually. A recent study showed that kids exposed to secondhand smoke also scored lower on tests.

People who work in bars where smoking is allowed are exposed to levels of smoke that are much greater than what's found in a smoker's residence.

That's why this important law was passed, and the state is right to make sure people comply with it.