HR0146 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0146 LRB098 11300 MLW 42561 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, In the Smokefree Illinois Act the General Assembly declared that tobacco smoke is a harmful and dangerous carcinogen to human beings and a hazard to public health; and

WHEREAS, Secondhand smoke is a major health hazard and there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; approximately 50,000 deaths each year are attributable to secondhand smoke exposure according to the U.S. Surgeon General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Cancer Institute; and

WHEREAS, Both the United States Surgeon General and the Environmental Protection Agency have determined that children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke, because they are still developing physically, have higher breathing rates than adults, and have little control over their indoor environments; and that children exposed to high doses of secondhand smoke, such as those whose parents or other caregivers smoke, have the greatest relative risk of experiencing damaging health effects such as asthma, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, lower respiratory track infections, and middle ear infections; and

WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe levels by high rates of ventilation; and

WHEREAS, The health hazards of secondhand smoke on children would be greatly reduced if all Illinoisans would refrain from smoking while in vehicles transporting minors under the age of 13; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge all drivers who transport minors under the age of 13 in their vehicles to refrain from all types of smoking while any minors under the age of 13 are in the vehicle.