Supporting a Smoke Free Texas

WHEREAS, the League of United Latin American Citizens is this nation’s oldest and largest Latino organization, founded in Corpus Christi, Texas on February 17, 1929; and

WHEREAS, LULAC throughout its history has committed itself to the principles that Latinos have equal access to opportunities in employment, education, housing and healthcare; and

WHEREAS, secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. killing 3,400 Americans due to lung cancer and about 46,000 due to heart disease annually. Thousands more suffer from secondhand smoke related illness and disease including lung cancer, heart disease, low birth weight, chronic lung ailments and other health problems; and

WHEREAS, the 2006 and 2010 U.S. Surgeon General's report concluded there is no risk free level of exposure to secondhand smoke; and

WHEREAS, cigarette smoking and secondhand smoke cost $92 billion in productivity losses each year in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention; and

WHEREAS, ethnic minorities are disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry and Suffer disparately from the health risks of tobacco and secondhand smoke, requiring that the tobacco dependence issue be addressed not only as a rightful public health priority, but also as an important social justice priority; and

BE IT RESOLVED, that the LEAGUE OF UNITED LATIN AMERICAN CITIZENS of TEXAS supports a comprehensive statewide smoke-free workplace law that will prohibit smoking in indoor workplaces, including restaurants and bars, to protect all citizens from the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure in indoor public environments

Approved this 1st day of July 2011.

Margaret Moran
LULAC National President