TEXAS MEDICAL ASSOCIATION HOUSE OF DELEGATES
Resolution 204 (A-06)
Subject: Smoke-Free Dining in Texas
Introduced by: John R. Asbury, MD
Referred to: Reference Committee on Public Health
Whereas, The Texas Medical Association House of Delegates made the issue of smoke-free dining a high priority in the past Texas legislative session; and
Whereas, Other important issues facing the legislature and organized medicine kept the issue of smoke-free dining in Texas from being properly addressed by the legislature; and
Whereas, The ravages of smoking continue to take a toll on the health of Texans, both directly and indirectly, driving up health care costs for all Texans; and
Whereas, English pubs will become smoke-free in 2007, and the Irish now can have a beer in a smoke-free pub; and
Whereas, Many Texas cities including Austin voted to have smoke-free restaurants and bars; and
Whereas, The Texas Medical Association, in partnership with the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association, should work again in the next legislative session to establish smoke-free dining and drinking for all Texans; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Texas Medical Association House of Delegates direct TMA leadership to make smoke-free public places for dining and drinking one of its highest priorities for the 2007 Texas Legislature.
Relevant TMA Policy
315.000 Tobacco. In Texas, tobacco stands out as the agent most responsible for avoidable illness and death. Its use brings premature death to one-half of all tobacco users and contributes to profound disability and pain in millions of Texans. In addition, secondhand smoke is one of the most dangerous and unregulated occupational chemical exposures in America's workplaces…
The Texas Medical Association supports the following policies to help physicians reduce, and eventually eliminate, tobacco use and its impact on Texans…
(4) Smoke-Free Environments. TMA prohibits smoking at all of its official functions and supports regulations and legislative action establishing all public places and workplaces, including any place where people seek medical care, day care facilities, public and private schools, prisons, and airplanes, as smoke-free environments. Surrounding grounds also should be made smoke-free for a distance sufficient not to expose others to secondhand smoke. TMA urges its members, county and state medical societies, and the American Medical Association to facilitate and support the establishment and enforcement of smoke-free policies and ordinances in the above locations and to promote, honor, and help publicize companies and governmental agencies that become smoke-free.
TMA House of Delegates: TexMed 2006