By: John Michael Pierobon
While countries across the globe are taking decisive steps to curb tobacco consumption and exposure to secondhand smoke, America is falling behind, neglecting its paramount duty to protect public health.
Smoking has long been recognized as a danger to public health, with its well-established links to a plethora of serious illnesses, including cardiovascular diseases, respiratory disorders, and at least 93 forms of cancer. Recognizing the urgency of addressing this epidemic, countries around the world have implemented stringent measures to protect public health.
In 2024, France will ban smoking on all beaches, public parks, forests and near schools in effort to make no-smoking areas the norm in that country.
In January 2023, Mexico banned smoking on all beaches, parks, and playgrounds. Mexico also banned the importation and sale of vaping devices.
In 2022, Chile enacted a law prohibiting smoking within 80 meters of lakes, rivers and the highest tide of the sea.
In 2022, Spain banned smoking on all its beaches, following a citizen petition against beach pollution.
In 2020, Japan introduced an outdoor smoking ban which prohibits smoking in many public spaces such as train stations, sports facilities, parks and beaches.
Austria, Bahrain, Cyprus, France, Italy, Lithuania, Mauritius, New Zealand and Turkey are among the countries that ban smoking in cars to protect minors.
Exposing children to secondhand smoke in an enclosed vehicle is a form of child abuse because the Surgeon General has demonstrated there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
One of the most effective measures to reduce tobacco use is banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Despite the overwhelming medical evidence, the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) failure to act is unconscionable, especially when the FDA has stated that such a ban would "significantly reduce youth initiation, increase the chances of smoking cessation among current smokers, and address health disparities." The cancer moonshot the Biden Administration touted has been grounded by the tobacco lobby.
This is a major public health issue because cancers and other diseases caused by smoking do not discriminate on race or social standing.
Some on the extreme left claim this ban is racist, but it is not true because Ethiopia, Nigeria, Senegal, and Uganda are among the African countries that have banned menthol cigarettes. The NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus are strongly in favor of this ban, as are the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association.
Success stories of nations like Brazil, Canada, the European Union, and Great Britain, where menthol cigarettes have been banished, speak volumes. For example, after these bans were implemented, 8% of menthol smokers in the European Union and 21% of menthol smokers in Canada quit smoking altogether.
Tobacco control saves lives. Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year. It is the duty of the government to protect its citizens and right now our government is failing to protect its citizens.
Since the federal government will not act, the Florida Legislature can and should ban smoking on all beaches and parks, prohibit smoking in cars with minors, and end the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars.
Other states have. In 2020, Massachusetts implemented a statewide sales ban on all flavored tobacco products. Five other coastal states have banned smoking on all of their beaches and parks. Recently the West Virginia Legislature took action to become the twelfth state (in addition to Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico) to ban smoking in vehicles when children or adolescents are present.
The time for action is now. Banning menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars, plus implementing restrictions on smoking in cars and public spaces will save thousands of lives and build a cleaner and healthier future for generations to come.