Dr. Michael Siegel backs up KEEP ST. LOUIS FREE!

Esteemed secondhand smoke researcher and former CDC scientist, Dr. Michael Siegel, whose many bar and restaurant secondhand smoke studies helped form the basis of former Surgeon General Carmona's secondhand smoke report, made this statement on his blog yesterday:

"The smoking ban proponents who are claiming that the nonsmoker exposed for 8 hours will suffer the same health effects as if they smoked 16 cigarettes a day are wrong, and they are being deceptive, probably intentionally."

This statement backs up the contention of KEEP ST. LOUIS FREE! and Illinois Smokers Rights that the Illinois smoking ban is based on a fraud put forward by the American Cancer Society. Dr. Siegel specifically cites Smoke Free Illinois in his post. Please check out Dr. Siegel's blog post, make up your own mind, and return to comment here! Really, why should Illinoisans or St. Louisans honor such a law based on lies?

http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/

Smoke-Free St. Louis City back in Dutch with Dr. Siegel!

Just posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch blogs:

"After having backed down from its Friday posting of the American Cancer Society’s 16 Cigarette Claim, Smoke-Free St. Louis City is back in Dutch with Dr. Siegel. And worse this time. Smoke-Free St. Louis City now claims on its website,

“Just thirty minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke can cause heart damage similar to that of habitual smokers.”
http://smokefreestl.org/thefacts.html

Dr. Siegel has led a world-wide campaign to get antismoking groups to retract this fraudulent claim and expunge it from their websites. Smoke-Free St. Louis City has is now likely to find itself on Dr. Siegel’s list of offenders. It’s a rocky start for Smoke-Free St. Louis City."

http://www.stltoday.com/blogs/news-politicalfix/2007/12/open-comment-line-ready-for-business-2/comment-page-3/#comments

Smoke Free St. Louis City now pushing American Cancer Society's phony 16 Cigarette Claim!

Smoke Free St. Louis City is now pushing a smoking ban on St. Louis City with the American Cancer Society's phony 16 Cigarette Claim, the same claim Smoke Free Illinois used to help pass the Illinois smoking ban. According to the Smoke Free St. Louis City website:

For patrons & employees, 2 hours in a smoky bar is the same as smoking nearly four cigarettes.
For bar employees, working an 8-hour shift is equivalent to actively smoking nearly a pack a day.
http://smokefreestl.org/thefacts.html

Dr. Michael Siegel, whose many studies concerning secondhand smoke exposure of bar and restaurant workers helped to form the basis of the Surgeon General Carmona's report, has just this week condemned this unqualified claim:

"The smoking ban proponents who are claiming that the nonsmoker exposed for 8 hours will suffer the same health effects as if they smoked 16 cigarettes a day are wrong, and they are being deceptive, probably intentionally."
http://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/

This is a list of other false or very misleading claims that now appear on Smoke Free St. Louis City website:

HVAC systems re-circulate the contaminated air.

Most cancer-causing particles and all cancer-causing gasses are too small to be trapped by filters.

Ventilation systems start at about $8,000 for a small restaurant; this does not include putting up walls or other physical barriers that are the norm in ventilation-based ordinances.

Studies of sales tax data from 81 cities in 6 states consistently demonstrate that smokefree ordinances have no effect of restaurant revenues.

The claim that air filtration system for bar and restaurants won't work can be quickly refuted by a trip to these two webites:
http://www.air-quality-eng.com/tobacco.php
http://www.smokeeaters.org/

How could anyone from St. Louis claim that smoking bans won't hurt bars and restaurants with a straight face? People from St. Louis remember Elsa Barth and the Seventh Inn.