Smoking – Outdoors

This is the comments of a reader on this website and as I totally agree with this individuals I believe that it is appropriate that I should share his comments with everyone who visit this website.

Smoking is a major issues with many people and I believe that as individuals we should have certain rights that government should not interfere with and as such I whole-heartedly agree with the comments as listed below.  Equally, I respect the views of non-smoker and believe they too have the right not to breathe in second-hand smoke but legislating against smoking outdoors is ludicrous and infantile.

Comment by Russell34

One would think that anyone who seriously worries about the carcinogenic potential of second-hand smoke, in the insignificant amounts that one would inhale in an outdoor setting, for which there is no credible science linking it to disease, would first worry about the fact that every day we breathe in the exhaust of thousands of taxis, buses and other vehicles, as well as the industrial pollution that envelops the city. In all of the years that this issue has existed, I’ve not heard a single anti-smoking crusader tell me the he or she wrote a letter to their congressman, city council representative or anyone else about the potential threat of these other carcinogens to our health.

The chance of becoming sick, physically, by smelling cigarette smoke in an outdoor environment, has never been demonstrated, in any study, to cause disease. Just because high concentrations of second hand smoke may cause disease, does not mean that the few molecules necessary to smell smoke has the same effect. The amounts involved are directly correlative to potential health risk. This issue needs to be decided by unbiased scientists, not speculation on the part of laypeople, most of whom know nothing about medicine or epidemiology. The government’s involvement in this issue is dubious, at best. We live in a country that heavily subsidized the tobacco industry until recently, granting it tacit approval. Many long-term smokers, who make up the majority of people who have been unsuccessful at quitting, or don’t want to quit, grew up in this environment of approval. It’s ironic that now, another branch of the government would be so unwise as to persecute these people, as if they’re criminals. If cigarettes are harmful to human beings, perhaps they should be banned altogether – completely taken off the market. Close the tobacconists! Sue the industry into oblivion! But let’s not, for the sake of compassion and decency, persecute individuals who choose to exercise their right to smoke outdoors. The whole thing has gotten completely out of hand, and it’s time that we return to a sensible dialogue over this issue.

Be sure to write your congressman about reducing automobile emissions, industrial pollution, the burning of fossil fuels, the contents of our drinking water, the burial of carcinogenic waste and some of the other issues that are more likely to impact your life than smelling cigarette smoke for a millisecond, as someone walks past you in a public park.