Sample letter to restaurant owners

Dear Restaurant Owner/Manager:

Do you know that 76% of Americans don't smoke? Members of C.O.S.T. (Children Opposed to Smoking Tobacco) have known this for several years. They were pretty certain that these nonsmokers prefer smokefree dining, but were surprised to learn that the majority of smokers preferred smoke free dining as well. A survey we recently conducted of 492 people found that 84% of smokers and nonsmokers want to eat in establishments that are free of tobacco smoke.

People have known for a long time that smoking tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death in the nation. Now more and more people are becoming aware that Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) kills too! Some people call Environmental Tobacco Smoke, Second Hand Smoke, but there is nothing second hand about it.

ETS has many of the same cancer causing and toxic agents that are in mainstream smoke, but at higher levels! It is so dangerous that the Environmental Protection Agency classified tobacco smoke as a Class A Carcinogen! This category is used only for the most dangerous cancer-causing agents in humans. Breathing ETS is even more dangerous than being exposed to asbestos!

It is known that:

• ETS takes the lives of more than 50,000 nonsmokers in the U.S. from heart disease, lung cancer, and other cancers every year.
• Nonsmokers exposed to ETS at work are 39 percent more likely to get lung cancer than non exposed nonsmoking employees.
• The developing lungs of young children are affected by exposure to secondhand smoke. ETS is the cause of serious respiratory illness in children, including bronchitis, pneumonia, asthmatic episodes, new cases of asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome
• Smokefree dining is good for business.

We are hoping that you will decide to make your establishment smokefree. By doing so, you will be helping to save lives.

Sincerely,

Members of C.O.S.T.