BILL NUMBER: SB 1598	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Padilla

                        FEBRUARY 22, 2008

   An act relating to smoking.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1598, as introduced, Padilla. Smoking.
   Existing law regulates and requires a license for the sale of
cigarettes and tobacco products.
   This bill would set forth a statement of legislative findings and
declarations regarding the dangers of secondhand smoke.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) More than 440,000 people die in the United States from
tobacco-related diseases every year, making it the nation's leading
cause of preventable death.
   (b) Secondhand smoke is responsible for an estimated 38,000 deaths
among nonsmokers each year in the United States, which includes
3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 deaths due to heart disease.
   (c) Secondhand smoke exposure adversely affects fetal growth with
elevated risk of low birth weight and increased risk of Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome (SIDS) in infants of mothers who smoke.
   (d) Secondhand smoke exposure causes as many as 300,000 children
in the United States under the age of 18 months to suffer lower
respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia and bronchitis;
exacerbates childhood asthma; and increases the risk of acute,
chronic, middle-ear infections in children.
   (e) The United States Environmental Protection Agency has
classified secondhand smoke as a group A carcinogen, the most
dangerous class of carcinogen.
   (f) The United States Surgeon General has concluded that there is
no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
   (g) The California Air Resources Board has put secondhand smoke in
the same category as the most toxic automotive and industrial air
pollutants by categorizing it as a toxic air contaminant for which
there is no safe level of exposure.
   (h) The California Environmental Protection Agency has included
secondhand smoke on the Proposition 65 list of chemicals known to the
State of California to cause cancer, birth defects, and other
reproductive harm.
   (i) More than 30 percent of California's housing is multiunit
residences, such as apartments and condos. In this type of housing,
scientific studies show that secondhand smoke can travel into and out
of open windows and doors, shared ventilation systems and walls,
ceiling crawl spaces, and gaps around electrical wiring, light
fixtures, plumbing, ductwork, and even baseboards.