Iowa City/Corallville residents resent smoking

A poll finds a majority of residents in the Iowa City/Coralville area resent being exposed to second-hand cigarette smoke. The poll also found more than 68-percent of respondents think second-hand smoke is a potential killer.Iowa City vascular surgeon Dr. Beth Ballinger is a member of the locally based CAFE, or Clean Air For Everyone, which sponsored the poll. Dr. Ballinger says the results of second-hand smoke are evident to her every day she goes in to the hospital. She says most of the disease she sees is from current or active smokers and those hit by second-hand smoke.Five thousand Iowans die from tobacco-related diseases every year. About one thousand Iowa kids start smoking every month. Ballinger would like to see additional restrictions placed on smokers — as would most of the Johnson County residents who were surveyed. The Ames City Council will take up a measure next month to ban smoking in all restaurants citywide. Ames would be the first city in the state to go to that extent.