On
Wednesday March 22, 2006 the state Senate passed the fire safe
cigarettes bill (newly re-rafted SB 2403), taking Massachusetts one
step closer to being the fourth state to enact fire safety standards
for cigarettes, following New York in 2000, Vermont in May 2005, and
California in October 2005.
Sadly,
days later a deadly cigarette started fire killed a Brockton man and
woman, reminding us of the need for this life saving legislation
In
2003, cigarette fires killed 18 people, injured 59 civilians and 48
firefighters. Since 1990, cigarettes have caused 19,419 fires, 902
firefighter injuries, 1,027 civilian injuries, 248 deaths, and
$120,920,641 in property damages, according to the Massachusetts Fire
Marshal's office.
"Cigarette
manufacturers meet this standard by using cigarette paper in less
porous bands that slow down and extinguish a cigarette's burn if the
smoker is not actively 'dragging' on it," said Eric Bourassa, Consumer
Advocate with MASSPIRG. "Now that three states and the entire country
of Canada are switching to these less-fire-causing cigarettes, it's
outrageous that tobacco companies do not voluntarily sell them
everywhere."
Senator
Stephen Brewer (Barre) is the lead senate sponsor of the bill and
Representative Rachel Kaprielian (Watertown) is the lead House sponsor.
The
name of the bill was officially changed to the Kearney O'Neill McGovern
Law after the one of Boston's deadliest fires, a 1990 Roslindale blaze
caused by a cigarette that claimed the lives of Myles O'Neill, his wife
Maureen Kearney, their three children and a family friend.
Groups
supporting the passage of the bill include the Massachusetts Public
Interest Research Group (MASSPIRG), the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA), the Massachusetts Medical Society, the Fire Chiefs
Association of Massachusetts, the Professional Firefighters of
Massachusetts, and dozens of other lawmakers and public health
organizations.
