Secondhand Smoking

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Recommended: Law banning smoking in public places

“A blockbuster study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) examined the impact of exposure to ETS on the progression of athersclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and concluded, in part, that the arteries of non-smokers exposed to ETS thickened 20% faster than non-smokers with no second-hand exposure” (JAMA). Another study published in Pediatrics in January estimated that, “about half of the cases of early childhood cases of asthma, chronic bronchitis and wheezing are attributable to exposure to secondhand smoke” (JAMA). Smoking in public areas such as bars and restaurants can be harmful to the health of not only the smoker himself, but everybody around him. Recent studies on the number of deaths as a result of smoking confirmed that eight out of ten people affected with diseases affiliated with smoking were a cause of second hand smoke. Laws are in the process of being passed to make certain places completely non-smoking. Why should a person who has been careful about their health be subject to smoker’s health problems? Why should a family going out to dinner have to smell the smoke from someone else when the family has just as much right to be there as the smoker does? Isn’t there some way to compromise between the two? Won’t someone be unhappy no matter what the decision about banning smoking is? The fact is that everyone has the right to smoke if they want to; but there is no way that a non-smoker should be forced to inhale smoke that isn’t theirs. Although, won’t a restaurant lose a lot of business if they cut out the smoking sections? The Institute for Social Research at York University for the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit at the University of Toronto performed a study on smoking attitudes and behaviors. First of all, “only 19% of Toronto adults smoke, 15% daily” (institute). The study proved that, “eight out of 10 smokers in Toronto say they would follow the rules if there were more restrictions on smoking, even without the threat of a fine. Only one in 10 smokers say they would ignore new restrictions” (institute). Half of the adults who go out to eat don’t go to the smoky restaurants or bars for that matter, but somewhere else. Only a quarter of all the non-smokers replied that they would not take a smoking table even if it was the last one in the restaurant (institute). This information was provid...

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...eness Coalition formed in upstate New York and the Tobacco-Free Tri-Counties including Washington Counties and Oregon. The fact is that many groups are strongly against public smoking because of the effect it has on innocent bystanders. The tobacco companies are afraid of what all these organizations will do to their profits and, as a result, are bringing forth lawsuits against some select organizations because the organizations are so effective in making new laws. The many new non-smoking laws in bars and restaurants have proved many times profitable to these public places. Therefore, the bars and restaurants, along with many other public places of employment are becoming much safer because of the no smoking rules. This includes less second hand smoking diseases as well as something as drastic as a fire. These new regulations naturally make the non-smoking community very happy; some smokers even believe in the new safety rules. Those smokers who believe they have the right to do whatever they want when they want will have to learn to cope with the new ways. Eventually, these laws will be very common and it won’t be such a big deal to the smoking society once it gets used to it.

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