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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Experts Point Out Benefits of Smoking Bans in the Home [12/21-5]
Excerpts from: Smoking bans test families, but experts point out benefits
By The Atlanta Journal-Constitution [12/21/04]
Tessie Marks loves going home for the holidays.
This year, however, Marks may not be going home for the holidays. Her mother, Marie Sanders, is drawing a line in the smoke: No one, not even her children, can smoke in her Atlanta apartment. That means that Marks, who is trying to quit smoking but has been unsuccessful, may skip the Christmas get-together.
Evidence grows each year that secondhand smoke not only greatly increases a person's risk of lung cancer but also contributes to asthma, middle ear infections, sinus infections and chronic lung disease. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last spring suggested that secondhand smoke can even trigger a heart attack.
The observational study in Helena, Mont., showed that hospital admissions for heart attack declined by about 40 percent during the six months in which a smoking ban in public places was in effect. The number of admissions rebounded after the ordinance was suspended.
As a result, advocacy groups like the American Lung Association and many doctors who treat people with asthma and other chronic lung diseases recommend banning indoor smoke and its residue altogether.
That means no smoking in garages, basements or sun porches, and it means declining an invitation to take children to the home of smoking adults.
Doctors who treat patients with lung diseases insist that there's no room for negotiation because no room is safe when cigarette smoke is around.
"Smoke doesn't have barriers," said Dr. Kelvin Holloway, associate professor of medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine and a board member of the American Lung Association. "It clings to drapes, carpet, clothes, everything."
Sanders decided she reached her limit this year after Marks was diagnosed with sarcoidosis, a disease that causes inflammation in the body's tissues.
Experts suggest that smokers discuss their smoking and the family's reaction to it before the holiday.
Nonsmokers should be supportive of efforts by smokers to stop smoking. Nonsmokers should try to limit guilt trips and self-righteousness but be firm that smoking is a no-no.
That's a delicate balance, doctors say. "It's so dependent on the family dynamic," Holloway said.
He recommends that all parties stay as calm as possible and keep focused on the health issue, not shame and guilt. "And if you cannot press upon them that they need to cease for health's sake, then you may need to look for other options," he said.
As Sanders and Marks have pondered their choice of a Christmas without each other, they feel unhappy.
Marks said she may soften by Christmas, as the thought of her mother's apartment beckons.
"My mother is a wonderful person," Marks said. "I want to make her proud. I really, really, really want to stop."
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