Dear Editor,

I would like to respond in agreement to the guest commentary in the June 4 issue titled &8220;Alabama citizens&8217; health takes back seat.&8221;

I too was disappointed in the failure of the smoke-free bill to pass for the state of Alabama. Without showing a large support for bills such as these to pass, it is as if we are actually asking for bad health.

While the bill&8217;s failure might not initially strike much fear in the hearts of women, it should after considering the facts. As it is, heart disease is the number one killer of women. In the course of one year, 460,000 women will die from symptoms due to some form of heart disease. One woman per minute.

According to their website, the American Heart Association recently released a study that showed Birmingham was the least &8220;heart friendly&8221; city for its size in the nation.

Now consider the kind of health hazards smoking provides for your heart and body on top of the findings listed above.

It sure is easy for us to complain once we are faced with a life-threatening disease, but we certainly aren&8217;t doing much about it in effort to prevent such an outcome.

Britney Almageur

Birmingham/b