Green Bay Packer Demonstrates the Dangers of Secondhand Smoke/BARF ALERT

Yahoo News ^ | 17 July 2002 | Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board

[SheLion]

GREEN BAY, Wis., July 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Bay Packer Ahman Green's participation in a Wisconsin ad campaign designed to raise awareness about the dangers of secondhand smoke was unveiled today. Green will be part of a series of television and radio advertisements that launched early-June and are being broadcast throughout Wisconsin. The new ads use personal stories told by Wisconsin residents who have suffered the effects of secondhand smoke.

Green is not a smoker himself, but he grew up in a household with a smoker and was diagnosed with asthma at age 14. The 25-year-old running back has to pay special attention to avoid smoke-filled environments in order to perform at his best. His personal experience and concerns for his own health and that of others has inspired him to share his story in hopes that it will lead to a smoke-free Wisconsin.

"Because my asthma is aggravated by secondhand smoke, I have to be very careful where I go. My options of which restaurants to eat at or what places I can go to often depend on whether there will be cigarette smoke in the air," says Green. "This can be frustrating and limiting, but staying healthy is important to me and vital to my career."

Green is featured in a television ad that takes place in a cafe. As he enters the smoke-filled cafe, he slips an oxygen mask over his face. The ad conveys the message that secondhand smoke can have serious effects on a nonsmoker. One of the most obvious places where cigarette smoke lingers is in bars and restaurants. Kathie Bundy, pub owner and performer from Manitowoc, WI is featured, along with Ahman Green, in the campaign ads. Bundy opened Stage Door Saloon, one of just a few nonsmoking pubs in Wisconsin. She is featured in a television ad that takes place in a smoke-filled restaurant. Bundy's story is meant to encourage other restaurants and bars to go smoke- free.

"Between concerns about my own health and complaints from nonsmoking customers, I decided that it was the right decision to go smoke-free," Bundy says. "Of course I had concerns about the repercussions this decision would have on my business, but the pub is as busy as ever and customers are happy they have a place to go that isn't filled with smoke."

Restaurant owners who are currently smoke-free or those owners who are considering making their restaurant smoke-free, can advertise their restaurant free of charge on the new Wisconsin Smoke-free Online Dining Guide. Owners simply log onto WWW.HADENOUGHWISCONSIN.COM , enter the Smoke-free Dining Guide section and submit requested information. All restaurant details will be verified and then posted. The new site feature was designed to encourage restaurants to go smoke-free and to support restaurant owners and customers that prefer a smoke-free environment.

The secondhand smoke media campaign is a component of the WTCB's statewide initiative for smoke-free restaurants, work sites, municipal buildings and homes. Each ad contains a tag line that directs viewers to the hadenoughwisconsin.com web site where visitors can share their own stories or seek help in quitting smoking.

The Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board is a Governor-appointed Board charged with developing a strategic plan, allocating funds and evaluating the effectiveness of Wisconsin's tobacco prevention and control efforts. The Board is comprised of state and local leaders representing businesses, education, health care, public health and political leaders from across the state.

[SheLion]

generally die young and have a lesser quality of life.

Verrry interesting. Can't wait to tell Bubba that we have a "lesser quality of life."

And how old does one have to be before they are eligible to die, in your honest opinion.

[Madame Dufarge]

I say great job! Get the message out! If people are too stupid to listen, that's their own problem.

Here's my message!

Don't in the same breath pretend you couldn't care less and then call people stupid!

Here's another message!

Who cares if you work in the health care field and see stuff!

Try reading a little history!

Here's another message!

I think you're stupid!

And I don't even have to work in the "health field" to figure that out!

[kailbo]

Bubba who?? You mean Monica's boyfriend??

Give him a few years yet-- he'll start to feel the affects.

How old is old enough to die??

You can go whenever you want. There's no age that's old enough to die. But I'll promise you that if you take 100 smokers and 100 non-smokers percentage-wise the smokers die younger.

Maybe that doesn't matter to you diehard smokers--- that's fine.

But to the ignorant / innocent, they should be informed of the inherent risks they are taking.

[kailbo]

One more reply before I have to go Madame..

Are you naturally ignorant or do you have to work at it daily?

By the way, what are you a madame of.... huh....

[SheLion]

But I'll promise you that if you take 100 smokers and 100 non-smokers percentage-wise the smokers die younger.

You don't know what your talking about.

And not to worry. You and I shall never, EVER meet on God's Green Earth! Not if "I" have anything to say about it!

[RichInOC]

a rather crappy thing for him to do

No, he did that in Miami on April Fool's Day.

[SheLion]

One more reply before I have to go Madame..

Are you naturally ignorant or do you have to work at it daily?

Listen. I will say this ONE time. Do NOT come into my threads and flame my friends. YOU are not welcome here.

YOU are the one showing your a$$ in here, buddy!

[Madame Dufarge]

One more reply before I have to go Madame..

There is a God.

Are you naturally ignorant or do you have to work at it daily?

I'm humbled by your intell...zzzzzzz

By the way, what are you a madame of.... huh....

Ok, I'll make you a deal - since you're too stupid to be embarrassed, I'll be embarrassed for you.

[NewsFlash]

Celebrities that get on a political bandwagon make me sick.

Me Too!! People in glass houses........... Have no business telling others how to behave. When's the last time you saw a public service announcement by a celebrity/athlete addressing problem issues that directly affect their paticular lifestyles?

[SheLion]

Me Too!! People in glass houses...........

I mean it! When a celeb gets into standing on a soap box and it goes against anything that "I" believe in, they are finished with me.

I know we all have the freedom to believe how we choose, but when they have a Fan Base, I certainly would not encourage them to take a stand on anything political one way or the other. They can diss a lot of people that way.

For instance: when I discovered what a lap dog Barbara Streisand was to Clinton, I burned her CD's that I had in my collection. And I can no longer tolerate Baldwin.

People in the limelight need to be careful. They can lose a lot of fans.

[Just another Joe]

What's so bad about warning skulls full of mush about the dangers smoking and second hand smoking present. I work in the health field, I see it everyday. People who smoke generally die young and have a lesser quality of life.

If you want to smoke-- great. I could care less. But don't knock a guy for getting out a message of truth.

If that was all that was happening we wouldn't knock it.
However, ETS, second hand smoke, does NOT cause asthma as was implied in the article. ETS has not been proven to cause any type of harm to anyone that doesn't have a pre-existing medical condition that would prohibit them from being around ANY type of smoke.
We who post frequently on this type of article have not said that smoking, first hand smoke, is not bad for some people, just that there is a choice to be made and we don't want the nanny state making it for us. EVERYTHING has risk from the time you are born to the time you die. We want to be able to choose the risks we want to take.
If you can point us to the study, that has not been refuted or cherry picked, that says that ETS kills please do so and we will either take you at your words or debate you.
Please do not insult our intelligence with things we already know or anecdotal evidence.

[metesky]

It'll have to be after I die, because I light up anywhere I damn well please.

Looking forward to lighting up in your presence.

[SheLion]

Looking forward to lighting up in your presence.

~snicker!

[VRWCmember]

As long as it's not against the law, and sometimes maybe when it is, I will continue to smoke in public. If for no other reason just to tick off people like you.

So common courtesy is out of the question for you Joe? I usually get along fine with most smokers because most of the smokers I know use common courtesy and don't go out of their way to force their smoke in my face. But based on your statement it appears you would prefer to antagonize non-smokers rather than seek to mutually respect each others' rights.

Perhaps it is a shame that there are so many regulations being put in place regarding where people can and cannot smoke, but it is also a shame that the "need" for such regulations would be perceived. When people are waiting in line somewhere (stores, banks, amusement parks, etc.) common courtesy should be adequate to keep people from forcing their smoke on others. Unfortunately, I've found this not to be the case and often seen smokers take delight in rudely blowing their smoke in peoples faces and flouting city ordinances or other rules designating areas as non-smoking. Apparently it takes something like a $200 to $500 fine to get the attention of some people.

[metesky]

Actually, tobacco-related deaths occur at an average age of roughly 72, an age at which mortality is not unusual among smokers and non-smokers alike.

[Just another Joe]

But based on your statement it appears you would prefer to antagonize non-smokers rather than seek to mutually respect each others' rights.

Not nonsmokers but anti-smokers.
If a nonsmoker comes up to me and politely asks me to extinguish my cigarette for ANY reason, or no reason at all, 99 times out of 100 I will comply graciously.
If an anti-smoker gets in my face and DEMANDS that I extinguish my cigarette, even though I am within the law smoking where I am, I may blow smoke in their face.
Or if an anti-smoker gets in my face and starts screaming about how smoking is bad for me, I'm going to die a really painful death, and SHS is killing all those around me I may just light a second one so that I can have one in each hand to REALLY tick them off

[Illbay]

If I come visit you in your home that might happen. Anywhere else, forget it, bub.

[metesky]

Anywhere else, forget it, bub.

You'd stop me from smoking in a public place if you were present?

You have obviously overestimated your powers, there, laddy buck.

I can hardly wait...

[VRWCmember]

Thanks for the clarification. As a non-smoker who prefers not to be forced to inhale others' smoke, I have been called a nico-nazi, anti-smoker, and worse when I suggest that smokers should exercise what in a more polite era would have been recognized as minimal common courtesy. Apparently it is quite audacious of me to request -- however politely -- that someone not smoke in an area that is clearly and plainly designated as a non-smoking area.

It is interesting to see the name-calling (from both sides) that pops up on these tobacco threads, and I usually just laugh and don't even bother to post anything on them. But for some reason, I felt like questioning you on your post.