Could this be the year, for a statewide smoking ban? The letter grades are in, from the American Lung Association Tobacco Control Report Card for 2008: two “F's” a “C” and a “B.”
“I think the most problematic is the smokefree air grade,” says Dona Winisky with the Wisconsin chapter of the Lung Association. “We are still receiving a failing grade, in protecting people from secondhand smoke throughout the state, and I think that's the one that we need to work the hardest on this year.”
Wininsky says there's a better chance this year, that a statewide smoke free law may pass. “I think we have the momentum on our side,” she says. “I think we have a little bit more responsible leadership in the Assembly, to help move this forward. So we're cautiously optimistic.”
Winisky notes that local smoke free ordinances now protect a quarter million more people in Wisconsin. The state received another “F” for program prevention funding, a “C” for cigarette tax rate, and a “B” for cessation resources.