Montana Legislators: Don’t bring back smoking indoors

Some ideas are so bad that they’re ridiculous. Like bringing back smoking rooms to Montana businesses.

This is what Senate Bill 150, now being debated by the Montana Legislature, stands to do.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Wylie Galt of Martinsdale, would weaken Montana’s 20-year-old Clean Indoor Air Act and allow so-called “cigar rooms” to operate in our state. If the idea sounds familiar, that’s because lawmakers have rejected it time after time in past legislative sessions. But those who put profits ahead of our health keep trying.

SB 150 will subject employees and non-smoking patrons to secondhand cigar smoke, which can cause lung cancer and heart disease and stroke, and which contains all the same toxic chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Every worker deserves a safe place to work - free of toxic air pollutants.

If passed, Galt’s bill as proposed with amendments will irreparably weaken our Clean Indoor Air Act, which, as stated in Montana law, is intended to “protect the public health and welfare by prohibiting smoking in public places and places of employment; to recognize the right of nonsmokers to breathe smoke-free air; and to recognize that the need to breathe smoke-free air has priority over the desire to smoke.”

There is no way to contain cigar smoke within a room or building. Smoke filters through cracks in windows and walls, through air ducts and even through electrical outlets. And there is no safe level of secondhand smoke exposure.

If bars or brewpubs have “cigar rooms,” everyone inside the building, not just the smoking area itself, will be at risk, just as they were back in the bad old days when smoking was allowed in restaurants and on board airplanes.

Say “so long” to the family environment many establishments have cultivated over the past two decades. Many Montanans may see their favorite spots opting in to allow smoking.

There is no ventilation system that can effectively protect against secondhand smoke. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), which sets engineering standards for ventilation systems, says that “the only means of effectively eliminating health risks associated with indoor exposure is to ban smoking activity” from a building. Ventilation may reduce odor, but it won’t protect people’s health.

In fact, people who go inside a cigar bar or room will be at risk even when smoking isn’t taking place. Toxins from cigar smoke seep into carpet, furniture and walls and can be absorbed through the skin or by breathing in contaminated dust or by eating contaminated food. Employees charged with cleaning or otherwise maintaining a cigar bar or room will be at risk. Cigar bars or rooms can even pose a hazard for neighboring businesses.

Not only are backers of SB 150 and its amendment undermining our health and the Clean Indoor Air Act, but they also are breaking a promise made to the people of Montana. When the Clean Indoor Air Act was adopted 20 years ago, it included a four-year phase-in period for Montana’s tavern owners to make their bars and casinos smoke-free. The phase-in was agreed upon by the tavern industry, legislators and some health groups. SB 150 breaks this promise, which has been held for 16 years.

The bill also runs counter to public opinion in our state. A 2021 poll by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the American Heart Association showed that 89% of Montana voters from across the political spectrum support the Clean Indoor Air Act, and

77% (1-in-4) of Montana voters oppose allowing cigar smoking in bars.

SB 150 breaks a promise made to Montana citizens and hospitality workers, and it undermines our Clean Indoor Air Act, which prevents disease and saves lives. We’ve had 20 years of smoke-free workplaces and 16 years of smoke-free bars and casinos. Why bring back the days of smoke-filled air and coming home with your clothes, skin and hair stinking of smoke?

We’ve come to expect clean, healthy air in our public spaces. Let’s not go back to the days of smoking rooms. It's sad that we need to say it again and again and again, but tell your legislators to vote NO on this very bad idea.

Carrie Nyssen is senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in Montana; Char Day is a specialist with Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights; Jackie Semmens is state government relations director for the American Heart Association; and Katharine Sutphen is Montana grassroots manager for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.