Smoking in public places has become a big issue in today's society. Many people are up in arms about the subject and people on both sides of the argument feel that the subject is unfair and unjust. Banning smoking in public places is arguably unfair to smokers and takes away from their freedom; on the other hand however not banning it is unfair to the nonsmokers and puts our health in danger making it unsafe for us to go to public places where there are smokers. I do understand that smokers have certain rights here in the United States. We claim to be a nation of freedom and equality so therefore I understand the point of view of smokers that not allowing them to smoke in public is taking away their freedom. However do nonsmokers not have the right to their health? Do nonsmokers not have the right to clean air? Do nonsmokers not have the right to be able to go to public places without being suffocated by cigarette smoke?
Secondhand smoke is the smoke that is given off when burning a pipe, cigar, or cigarette mixed with the smoke that is exhaled from the lungs of smokers. Just a few of the 250 dangerous, toxic, cancer causing chemicals in secondhand smoke include formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chloride, arsenic, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide. All of these chemicals are extremely dangerous poisons and would never enter the body where it not for breathing secondhand smoke. Avoiding secondhand smoke is very hard because about one in four people smoke.
Secondhand smoke is very dangerous for many different reasons and it has been proven that it is more dangerous than smoking a cigarette yourself. There are many health factors that come along with secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat. It also irritates the lungs and causes coughing and chest discomfort as well as excessive phlegm. There have also been cases where some people will break out in hives when exposed to it. The dangerous chemicals that are in secondhand smoke cause many different diseases and health issues and are the basis behind the raise for concern.
Secondhand smoke increases the risk of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease by about 30%. In studies smokers had less of a risk or problem with coronary heart disease than the people exposed to second hand smoke. Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of lung and other cancers as well as other respiratory problems and accounts for 53,000 deaths each year in the United States. 3,000 of these deaths alone are from lung cancer in non smokers and approximately 22,000 are from heart disease in nonsmokers.
Secondhand smoke is especially dangerous in children. It has been found that children who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from lung diseases such as pneumonia and bronchitis and many others and have a higher risk of developing asthma. It is also shown that children who breathe secondhand smoke have more ear infections than children whose parents shield them from the dangers (2). There are approximately 150,000 - 300,000 cases each year of children under 18 months of age with infections from second hand smoke which results in around 7,500 -15,000 hospitalizations each year . It has also been found that one of the added reasons for sudden infant death syndrome is secondhand smoke or having a parent or guardian that regularly smokes. Secondhand smoke is also known to cause problems and issues in fetuses of mothers who are exposed to it.
The fact that secondhand smoke is more dangerous to children raises a very big concern to parents. As parents we should wish to protect our children from harm and in doing that we need to keep them away from secondhand smoke. Parents have to be careful of where they allow their children to go because of smoking these days. We want to keep them safe and their lungs healthy and to do that we have to monitor where we can and cannot take them. This is taking away from the children because they may not be able to go out to eat or go to some arcades or bowling alleys because of the risks involved in submersing them in cigarette smoke.
Aside from all of the dangerous diseases and problems that second hand smoke can cause some people have allergies to cigarette smoke or have other health issues such as COPD, asthma, or other breathing issues that cause them pain and suffering if they are exposed to cigarette smoke. These people, my daughter and myself included, cannot go to public places where there is smoke in the air without putting our health in jeopardy. Therefore allowing smoking in public areas keeps us from being able to enjoy public functions. We cannot just decide to go to a restaurant or other public area or function without first having to find out if they allow smoking and preparing for our health issue before we can go if they do. Because of this issue the nonsmokers are being unfairly overlooked by allowing smoking in public areas.
