Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand Smoke

Everybody's life is precious and worthwhile. That is why laws and regulations are passed to protect people's lives. We are not allowed to carry around guns and there are laws regulating who can posses them. Our water has to meet a certain criteria for us to drink it, and we are not exposed to water that can hurt us. We have the freedom of knowing that in America, our government is protecting us from things in public that can be potentially harmful, except for secondhand smoke.

Secondhand smoke is responsible for the death of thousands of Americans each year. According to the Peoria Youth Activism and Advocacy Training, in Illinois alone, "2900 people die each year from the effects of secondhand smoke; this is about eight people a day." It would improve our health to go where ever we want without having to breathe other's tobacco smoke. As a non-smoker, I support the new smoking ban because the band protects the health and increases the comfort of those who do not smoke. In this paper, I will highlight the negative side effects of secondhand smoke.

There are many negative side effects to secondhand smoke. One person's smoking can affect the health of many people around them, even nonsmokers. According to the Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet, "secondhand smoke contains many of the same toxic substances that the smoker inhales." And that's one of the reasons more and more people, young and old, seek out smoke free places.

As said by Michael Rabinoff in his book Ending the Tobacco Holocaust, "according to the Surgeon General, there are five major points concerning secondhand smoke." First, secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and adults who do not smoke. This is because secondhand smoke contains hundreds of chemicals known to be toxic or carcinogenic, including formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. Their second point is that children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes respiratory symptoms and slows down lung growth in their children. Thirdly, exposure of adults to secondhand smoke has negative effects on the cardiovascular system and causes coronary heart disease and lung cancer. The fourth point is that there is scientific evidence that indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke in people's homes and workplaces despite substantial progress in tobacco control. And their last point is that eliminating smoking in indoor spaces fully protects nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke. (Rabinoff)

Everyone has the right to breathe clean, smoke-free air in a house, restaurant, or work place. Everyone needs to breathe. Secondhand smoke is a very easily prevented cause of disease and death, both in adults and children. Local officials have the right and responsibility to deal with matters of public health and public safety in response to public concerns. A community's public health laws should be determined by public support and local policymakers, not by tobacco industry lobbyists in backrooms of the state legislature. According to the Peoria Youth Activism and Advocacy Training, "nineteen Illinois communities are smoke free, seventeen states are smoke free, and twenty countries are smoke free."

Many people believe that smoke free laws hurt the business economy. This is not necessarily true. Smoke free laws may be good for the bottom line. According to The Price of Smoking, "no reputable study has ever shown a negative economic impact, many have shown a positive economic impact, and some have shown no economic impact whatsoever. In addition, there have been decreased cleaning costs, decreased replacements of carpets and upholstery costs, and decreased employee absences. (Sloan)" Nor are tables sitting empty because of smoking and nonsmoking availability.

Others have said that improved ventilation technology makes smoke free policies unnecessary. But in fact, according to The Price of Smoking, "ventilation only removes the annoyance, odor, and irritation. Ventilation does not remove toxins that cause heart disease and cancer."

Arguably, it is wrong to let money get in the way of the public's health regardless of what excuses the government and businesses have. The ban was not introduced to take away the state's revenue; it was brought about to protect the lives of the state's citizens. The thing to do is to think about what are more important, people's lives or money. In this case, lives are far more valuable than losing some cigarette money.

If the government wants to make up for their cigarette tax losses, they can raise taxes on the