Categories: Alternative Medicine

Smoking in Public Places: Should it Be Banned?

Many Americans have had the experience of dealing with second-hand smoke at restaurants and other public places. Other that the obvious problems of having to deal with the smoke and walking out smelling like an ashtray, second-hand smoke is dangerous to the health of others in the public place. Smoking should be banned in all public places because of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke on the bodies of the other people with the public place.

Exposure to second hand smoke causes an increase in the chances of asthma, lung infections, heart disease, etc. and these drisk dramatically go up if children and infants are exposed to the smoke (“The Effects”). While in public places that allow smoking, non-smokers and others in the general public receive the same toxins into their bodies are smokers. It is unfair to those who choose not to smoke, when they involuntarily breathe in these toxins. Opponents of banning smoking in all public places would point to the fact that most places already have established smoking and non-smoking sections available. I can not dispute this; however, many times these sections are useless. Even if a person is in the non-smoking section, they will still end up breathing the same smoke-filled air as smokers because the air will travel from section to section (“The Effects”). When non-smokers inhale other’s smoke, their chance of lung disease, especially lung cancer, is increased. The EPA, or Environmental Protection Agency, estimates that second hand smoke causes around three thousand lung cancer deaths in non-smokers every year. Also, a report by the American Lung Association says that twenty percent of the American population is at risk for at least developing lung disease through second hand smoke. Not only does second-hand smoke simply increase the chances of lung disease, it also increases the chances of heart disease (“The Effects”). At least thirty-five thousand heart disease deaths of non-smokers can also be attributed to second hand smoke (“Second Hand”). These numbers are totally unacceptable. If smokers want to take these risks that is fine, but they should have to limit their smoking to the comfort of their own car or home and not in public places where the public is unwillingly exposed to second-hand smoke and its harmful effects. When exposed to smoke, non-smokers inhale two different types of smoke. The most important type is called sidestream smoke or smoking coming from a cigarette burning in an ashtray. This type is particularly important to know about because it contains a greater number of carcinogens, which are materials that can cause cancer. Inhaling cancer-causing substances is certainly dangerous to the health of other patrons in all public places. In the end, smoke is known to contain about three thousand chemicals where about fifty of these are notorious for being carcinogens (“The Effects”). All of these facts and numbers lead to the conclusion that second-hand smoke is dangerous to the health of others in public places.

Going into a public place, mainly restaurants, and having to deal with unwanted second-hand smoke is a situation shared by many non-smokers in America. Unwillingly inhaling smoke can create many health problems for the general public, ranging from creating asthma problems to causing lung diseases. Due to the many harmful effects of second-hand smoke on the body, smoking should be banned in all public places across the United States.