HB245, the bill that includes eCigarettes and hookahs in the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act (UICAA) has moved to the next stop. And it needs help moving forward!
Lets blitz the House with educational emails! Follow these simple steps:
1. Copy and paste THESE EMAIL ADDRESSES to the BCC line of your email.
2. Pick a couple talking points from the list below to share. (Feel free to add THIS IMAGE to your email to urge them to not repeat history. We have the evidence that nicotine is harmful.)
3. Share a personal story! Why is clean air important to you, your family, or community.
4. Ask them where they stand on the issue (if you hear back about this, please let us know!)
5. Send!
Easy, right? So lets do this!
(Oh, one last thing... Please send out a one lined email to THESE EMAILS [at bottom] thanking the legislators for voting yes on HB245 and passing it out of committee. Thanks!)
TALKING POINTS:
• HB245 is about protecting Utahns from involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke and other toxins in indoor public places.
• Data show that hookah and e-cigarettes have a harmful impact on health. The World Health Organization, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others all delineate the risks of use and exposure to hookah and e-cigarettes.
• HB245 does not ban hookah or e-cigarettes or any class of product. It deals only with the use of emerging products in indoor public places. People can still buy, use, and smoke products, just not where their use will expose others.
• HB245 clarifies language in line with the intent of the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act (UICAA) to prevent secondhand exposure to toxins in the indoor public places that Utahns patronize every day. Without this bill, hookah and e-cigarette use will be allowed in all indoor public places from restaurants to libraries to healthcare facilities.
• The UICAA prohibits tobacco smoke in indoor public places. It has since 1995. Further UICAA amendments passed by the legislature phased out smoking in bars and clubs in 2006 and 2007.
• The science is clear. Decades of research corroborate the fact that secondhand smoke is toxic.
• Utahns support these protections. Preliminary data show an overwhelming majority of Utah adults support the Utah law that bans tobacco smoke in indoor public places, including restaurants and bars. More than three fourth of Utahns are in favor of banning tobacco smoke from hookah in the same locations.
• Cities, states, and countries all over the world are restricting exposure to hookah and e-cigarettes to protect health. Even India, the birthplace of hookah, has banned use in indoor public places, including use in so-called hookah bars.
• The Indoor Clean Air Act must continue to protect Utahns from emerging products in the same way the Act has always protected the health of Utahns.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Lung Association recommend that tobacco smoke from hookahs be treated the same as smoke from other tobacco products and be prohibited in the same places.
To learn more about these issues, read:
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