Wyoming passes fire-safe cigarette legislation

Wyoming recently passed legislation requiring all cigarettes sold in the state to be fire safe, making it the final state to pass such legislation. The law is scheduled to go into effect July 2011.

Fire-safe cigarettes are wrapped with two or three bands of less-porous paper that causes the cigarette to extinguish if left unattended. The Coalition for Fire-Safe Cigarettes was launched in March 2006 to lobby for such legislation in an effort to reduce the number of home fires caused by cigarettes. Cigarettes are the leading cause of home fire fatalities, killing an estimated 700-900 people annually, according to the Quincy, MA-based National Fire Protection Association.

Fire-safe cigarette legislation currently is active in 43 states and will be in effect in all 50 states by July 2011.