New Ads Call for Smoke-Free Kentucky
January 09, 2013
Kentucky has a great opportunity this year to become the next smoke-free state.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids this week joined other public health organizations in launching an ad campaign calling for a comprehensive, statewide smoke-free law to protect all Kentuckians’ health and the state’s economy.
Appearing in newspapers and online, the ad contrasts things Kentucky is proud of – like basketball and horses – with the fact it has the highest smoking and lung cancer rates in the country.
The ad notes that Kentucky health and business leaders support a statewide law to make all indoor workplaces smoke-free.
Polling has shown that Kentuckians strongly support a smoke-free law. A poll released Monday by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky found that nearly 6 in 10 Kentucky adults (59 percent) favor a statewide smoke-free law, an increase from previous years.
Moreover, the poll found that support for a smoke-free law is bipartisan: 64 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of Democrats polled support the measure.
As Amy Barkley, chairperson of the Smoke-Free Kentucky Coalition put it, “A comprehensive, statewide smoke-free law would be a health win and an economic win for Kentucky, and it would protect everyone’s right to breathe clean air.”
The ad campaign is supported by the Smoke-Free Kentucky Coalition, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Smoke-Free Kentucky Coalition includes the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and many other health, business and community partners who are dedicated to making all indoor workplaces and public places in Kentucky smoke-free.