HR0146LRB098 11300 MLW 42561 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In the Smokefree Illinois Act the General Assembly
3declared that tobacco smoke is a harmful and dangerous
4carcinogen to human beings and a hazard to public health; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Secondhand smoke is a major health hazard and
6there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke;
7approximately 50,000 deaths each year are attributable to
8secondhand smoke exposure according to the U.S. Surgeon
9General, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
10the National Cancer Institute; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Both the United States Surgeon General and the
12Environmental Protection Agency have determined that children
13are particularly vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke,
14because they are still developing physically, have higher
15breathing rates than adults, and have little control over their
16indoor environments; and that children exposed to high doses of
17secondhand smoke, such as those whose parents or other
18caregivers smoke, have the greatest relative risk of
19experiencing damaging health effects such as asthma, Sudden
20Infant Death Syndrome, lower respiratory track infections, and
21middle ear infections; and
 
22    WHEREAS, The Environmental Protection Agency has

 

 

HR0146- 2 -LRB098 11300 MLW 42561 r

1determined that secondhand smoke cannot be reduced to safe
2levels by high rates of ventilation; and
 
3    WHEREAS, The health hazards of secondhand smoke on children
4would be greatly reduced if all Illinoisans would refrain from
5smoking while in vehicles transporting minors under the age of
613; therefore, be it
 
7    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
8NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
9we urge all drivers who transport minors under the age of 13 in
10their vehicles to refrain from all types of smoking while any
11minors under the age of 13 are in the vehicle.