Anti-Smoking American Milestone Reached Monday, January 22nd, 2007 Thirty years after it began as just another quirky movement in Berkeley, Calif., the push to ban smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places has reached a national milestone. For the first time in the nation's history, more than half of Americans live in a city or state with laws mandating that workplaces, restaurants or bars be smoke-free, according to Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. ''The movement for smoke-free air has gone from being a California oddity to the nationwide norm,'' said Bronson Frick, the group's associate director. ''We think 100 percent of Americans will live in smoke-free jurisdictions within a few years.'' Seven states and 116 communities enacted tough smoke-free laws last year, bringing the total number to 22 states and 577 municipalities, according to the group. Nevada's ban, which went into effect Dec. 8, increased the total U.S. population covered by any type of smoke-free law to 50.2 percent. It was the most successful year for anti-smoking advocates in the U.S., said Frick, and advocates are now working with local and state officials from across the nation on how to bring the other half of the country around.
	Study: New Air Systems Don't Clear Smoke Wednesday, November 1st, 2006 State-of-the-art ventilation systems used to clear cigarette smoke from bars and restaurants don't eliminate dangerous soot and carcinogens and can even push their levels higher in nonsmoking sections than in smoking areas, researchers concluded.
	Reductions in tobacco smoking are a major factor in the decrease in cancer mortality rates Tuesday, October 10th, 2006 Researchers reported in the journal Tobacco Control: "Even our most conservative estimate indicates that reductions in lung cancer, resulting from reductions in tobacco smoking over the last half century, account for about 40 percent of the decrease in overall male cancer death rates and have prevented at least 146 000 lung cancer deaths in men during the period 1991 to 2003. ... What is certain is that sustained progress in tobacco control is essential if we are to continue to make progress against cancer."
	France to end smoking in public Sunday, October 8th, 2006 France will ban smoking in most public places from February 1, 2007 and in bars, restaurants, hotels and discotheques less than a year later, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Sunday.
	Study: Anti-smoking push paying cancer dividends Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006 A new study gives anti-smoking efforts major credit for cutting the country's death rate from cancer. If smoking rates hadn't declined in the past 50 years, there would have been virtually no reduction in overall cancer mortality in recent years, according to an estimate from the American Cancer Society published in the October issue of Tobacco Control.
	Study links smoke-free policy with decreased heart attacks Monday, October 2nd, 2006 A Colorado city ban on smoking at workplaces and in public buildings may account for a steep decline in heart attacks. In the 18 months after a no-smoking ordinance took effect in Pueblo in 2003, hospital admissions for heart attacks for city residents dropped 27%, according to the study led by Dr. Carl Bartecchi, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.
	VFW’s new chief: End smoking in posts Thursday, August 31st, 2006 The newly elected president of the Veterans of Foreign Wars says that the organization should adapt for modern times -- and leave smoking behind. Gary Kurpius stressed that as long as smoking is still permitted indoors, “no one will want to join a VFW health club … or bring their children to a VFW day care center … or log-on at a VFW Cyber Café.”  “We are a democratic organization that is letting 20 percent of the population tell us that the post will fail if people can’t smoke inside. That’s bunk,” he said. “I know many VFW members and spouses who will not attend post meetings or events because of the smoke. I have read many articles about the VFW being the last building in town where indoor smoking is still permitted … and some members quoted in the newspaper are celebrating as if they just won a great battle against government and social interference. Comrades, that is not a victory, it is a sad commentary that unfortunately paints all of us with the same brush.”
	W.H.O: Indoor air should be 100% smoke-free -- all around the world Monday, August 7th, 2006 The World Health Organization says it will change its policy guidelines and tell governments around the world they should pass laws making indoor air fully smoke-free in workplaces and public places.
	Influential faith leaders seek FDA regulation of tobacco Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert is being asked by religious leaders from his district to support legislation that would stiffen tobacco regulations. Leaders from numerous denominations will join a national campaign, Faith United Against Tobacco, in support of HR 1376, a bill that would give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate how tobacco products are manufactured and marketed.
	Five Chicago suburbs seek regional smoking ban Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006 Leaders of five northwest Chicago suburbs have proposed joint legislation to restrict smoking in hundreds of area bars and restaurants.  Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg would effectively ban smoking in most businesses by Jan. 2, 2007, according to the ordinance introduced during a Monday morning press conference.

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