COM 0942.157 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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C COALITION FOR A TOBACCO-FREE HAWAII Date: April 18, 2008 To: Hawaii County Council, Pete Hoffmann, Chair, K. Angel Pilago, Vice Chair Hearing Date & Time: April 22, 2008, 10:45 A.M. Ref: Bill 224 TESTIMONY IN STRONG SUPPORT OF COUNCH OVERRIDE Good morning Chair Hoffman, Vice Chair Pilago, and members of the Hawaii County Council. My name is Deborah Zysman, and I am the Executive Director of the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawaii. Thank you for this opportunity to once again testify on behalf of the Coalition for a Tobacco- Free Hawaii, in strong support of Bill 224, and to encourage the Council to override the Mayor veto. It is our understanding that Mayor Kim believes that obtaining a smoke-free outdoor environment could be best achieved through some type of voluntary compliance. We are somewhat perplexed by the Mayor's position, since evidence shows that voluntary measures, though well intentioned, do not achieve the result they were designed for. The are numerous examples of this; • The immunization of school age children, began as a voluntary measure but later had to be mandated by local governments/school districts to protect the health of our children while attending schools. It wasn't until the enactment of immunization statutes that measles, mumps, polio, diphtheria, and pertussis were brought under control and for the most part been eliminated. • Car seat-belts, in the early 60's automobile manufactures began installing seat-belts in cars, however very few individuals elected to buckle-up. It wasn't until states began passing laws requiring drivers and passengers to use seat-belts, that we began to see a major decline in deaths from automobile accidents. • Smoking, we all know that public education efforts to highlight the health hazards of smoking had only modest impact. Once local governments and states began passing no-smoking work place laws, we began to see significant declines in heart attacks, cancer rates, and lung diseases. The future public health dollar savings will be enormous, and can be applied to other critical health issues. The Surgeon General has categorically stated that there is "no safe level for secondhand smoke," and that "scientific evidence shows that there is no risk-free level of exposure to second hand smoke." Gomm. No 4 ' 7 Ref. ToOiOAteo I Ref. Date APR 22 2Ong 1500 S. Beretania Street, Ste. 309 • Honolulu, f11 96826 • (808) 946-6851 phone • (808) 9466197 fax