Secondhand tobacco smoke kills over 6000 children and ultimately costs the US economy $8.2 billion each year, according to the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.  Much of this cost is borne by taxpayers.

Innocent children suffer from asthma, earaches, lower respiratory infections like pneumonia and bronchitis, and countless other ailments caused by exposure to secondhand smoke.

Like prison inmates, foster children are wards of the state.  Yet the states grant far more protection from secondhand smoke to prison inmates than to foster children.

The State of Maine has recently passed a law protecting foster children from tobacco smoke by banning smoking in homes and automobiles when foster children are present.

YOU can help! Email your state legislators demanding they adopt rules or legislation protecting foster children from the deadly health dangers of secondhand smoke. Remind them that prisoners are protected from secondhand smoke pollution and that you demand the same for innocent children. ASH has provided a general letter which you are free to send, or use it as a guideline when composing your own.* Email My State Officials >> If you prefer, send a letter via US Postal Mail, click here to look up your state legislators' contact information by zip code. *Maine residents are encouraged to send a letter in support of the new law, which is already in effect and protecting foster children.

State of Maine Smoking by Foster Parents Bill