{"id":27274,"date":"2012-02-09T21:50:03","date_gmt":"2012-02-10T01:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/miserybay.usanethosting.com\/wordpress\/?p=27274"},"modified":"2012-02-09T21:50:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-10T01:50:03","slug":"smoking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/smoking\/","title":{"rendered":"Smoke-free outdoor areas becoming more popular"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Secondhand smoke<!--more--><br \/>\nAs people enjoy the health benefits of smoke-free air indoors, it is only natural to want to enjoy those same benefits in outdoor areas, especially where people gather for recreation.<br \/>\nSecondhand smoke exposure is just one reason why communities are adopting smoke-free laws aimed at parks, playgrounds, trails and beaches. Negative health effects caused by secondhand smoke are numerous and may lead to serious illnesses such as respiratory infection, asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer.<br \/>\nCigarette litter is another reason for the need to adopt smoke-free parks, playgrounds and beach ordinances. Discarded cigarettes are dangerous due to the high level of toxins. They pollute the land and water and may be ingested by toddlers, pets, birds, or fish. Cigarettes are also the number one cause of outdoor pollution.<br \/>\nKim Singh, Health Officer of the Mid-Michigan District Health Department (MMDHD), also indicated, &#8220;There are also strong environmental reasons for expanding smoke-free policies to outdoor venues. Parks are about clean air, natural beauty and engaging in healthy lifestyles.&#8221;<br \/>\nBenefits of such policies include:<br \/>\n\u00b7 Protects children from cigarette and tobacco waste<br \/>\n\u00b7 Protects residents and visitors from secondhand smoke<br \/>\n\u00b7 Models a healthy lifestyle for youth<br \/>\n\u00b7 Provides a healthy environment for recreation use<br \/>\nAs we get closer to spring, Singh encourages municipalities to consider adopting smoke-free recreation policies and serve as a healthy role model for others.<br \/>\nAccording to the Surgeon General, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. For more information on the dangers of second hand smoke, visit<a href=\"http:\/\/ www.epa.gov\/smokefree\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> www.epa.gov\/smokefree<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Secondhand smoke<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27274\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjindy.com\/archive1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}