Smoking in public places should be prohibited Essay Example

Smoking in public places should be prohibited Essay Example Smoking in public places should be prohibited Essay Smoking in public places should be prohibited Essay Reports have it that cigarette smoking is bad for one’s health. Even government publicists say that smoking is dangerous. But there are people who continue to smoke to this day. The effects may be hazardous but they don’t seem to care. We hear people die of cigarette smoking. Some of them are our family members. Others are our next door neighbors. They die of cigarette smoke for smoking for years. Don’t say they were not warned against the ill effects of smoking cigarettes. Warnings are everywhere but they continue to go on and have become addicted to nicotine and all the other ingredients of cigarette smoke.We know that smoking is bad but the question remains: why do people smoke? Public opinions are heavy with objections to cigarette smoke.This paper will look into the other issue in cigarette smoking: smoking in public places. We know that passive smoke is even more dangerous than active smoke. Passive smoking is the smoke we get from people who smoke in publi c places such as bars, hotels, parks and we inhale their smoke.Passive SmokingPassive or involuntary smoking, according to Martell (1983) is the exposure to secondhand smoke or sometimes called â€Å"environmental† tobacco smoke. This smoke is a combination of smoke breathed out by smokers and smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes, bidis, among other components.According to the same author (Martell, 1983), secondhand tobacco smoke contains both gases and particulates which modifies as they get watered down and distributed in the environment and with time. The amount of secondhand smoke inhaled against one’s will differs and its makeup depends on smoking patterns and cigarette type.Winters (1982) say that smoking is being connected to lung cancer by medical institutions around the world. According to Winters (1982), a study showed that smoking men are 22 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smoking men and smoking women are 12 times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-smoking women.These studies show only one thing, that cigarette smoking sppeds up the rate of acquiring cancer and other ailments related to cigarette smoking. Recent findings by the World Health Organization (2002) suggest that U.S. white male smokers have an 8% chance of acquiring lung cancer at some point in their lives, as opposed to the 2% chance of acquiring lung cancer among U.S. white male non-smokers.A persons greater risk of acquiring diseases brought by smoking is said to be directly relative to the amount of time that a person continues to smoke as well as the quantity smoked. If only people decide to stop smoking, these chances become less (Witschi, 2001).Smoking in Public PlacesEnvironmental tobacco smoke or ETS is said to consist more than 4,000 chemicals and at least 40 known carcinogens. The addictive drug contained in tobacco called nicotine leads to acute increases in heart rate and blood pressure (Winters, 1982).Smokers have always insisted o n their rights. But active smokers must also take into consideration the rights of those who don’t want to die of smoking cigarette, tobacco, among others.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Smoking in public places must be banned totally. It has been known that smoking kills. Nonsmokers who have high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol are at even greater risk of developing heart diseases from exposure to ETS.In 2002, the World Health Organization came up with its World Health Report which showed that in developed countries, 26% of male deaths and 9% of female deaths can be attributed to smoking. That’s how dangerous smoking can be to humans.The medical world is filled with studies which show just how smoking can harm the human being in more ways than one. A report (Report of the Surgeon General, 1986) showed specifically the various health hazards brought by passive smoking. The report said that exposure to environmental tobacco smoking is about 10 times as danger ous as direct smoke.Ban on Public SmokingThere have been clamor to ban smoking in public done in many different avenues. There are opinion polls or surveys showcasing just how many people are against smoking. It is a fact that smoking kills but still people continue to kill themselves slowly, inviting nonsmokers to die with them.If we cannot ask people to stop smoking, we can make them stop smoking in public places. In New York City for instance, smoking is now being prohibited in workplaces. This ban, however, is not being imposed in bars. Restaurants have now banned smoking even in outside seating areas or entrances, transfering most smokers to street corners or in front of private residences.Martell (1983) indicated that smoking is now being prohibited in restaurants and bars across the United States. This is happening in the states of California and Delaware which have adopted this ban. In other states, these bans are gaining popular support with anti-smokers who see them as lon g overdue. Often smoking is sometimes allowed on the street, but this is not the case in countries like Japan wherein smoking is considered against the law.Recent developments in the ban of public smoking have been reported. Ireland is the first European country to enforce an outright ban on smoking in workplaces in March 2004.When New Zealand imposed smoking ban in bars and restaurants in 2004, the proposal received resentments from some bar owners, but the idea gained popular agreement from the public at large. There was a recent similar measures that were undertaken in Queensland in July this year. The move is now being considered by the public and is considered a success by nonsmokers from this side of the planet.Washington, in 2005, banned smoking in all business establishments, including bars and bowling alleys, and any place outdoors within 25 feet of a window, door, or ventilation intake. This is another welcome development for nonsmokers in this state since the goevrnment i s finally acting on the public clamor.Scotland also prohibited smoking in enclosed public places including public buildings, workplaces, sports stadiums, bars and restaurants. Exemptions are in place to allow hotel guests to smoke in their own rooms. Strangely though, the law also bans smoking in bus shelters, phone boxes or other smoking shelters that are more than 50% enclosed. It also prohibits smoking in trucks and vans which are owned by a company whether or not the driver is the only person inside.In many parts of the world tobacco advertising and even sponsorship of sporting events is not allowed. The ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship in the EU in 2005 has prompted the Formula One Management to look for races in areas that allow the heavily tobacco sponsored teams to display their livery, and has also led to some of the more popular races on the calendar being cancelled in favour of more tobacco friendly markets. However pressure from fans has seen these decisions re versed, and Grand Prix such as the Belgian Grand Prix have re-appeared on the calender.Conclusion:Medical studies have shown us that passive smoke is as dangerous as active smoke. It is with thought in mind that governments around the world should seriously consider banning public smoking at the soonest possible time.This is a serious matter since passive smoke can seriously cause different illness to anyone who happened to be around at that very moment. Banning public smoking does not cut off the rights of smokers. They are still being respected but the rights of nonsmokers must also be respected as well.It is unfortunate that many people still get sick and die of smoking as we move toward the ice age. This is the new millennium and yet people are still ignorant of the effects of passive smoke.The ill effects of smoking are being illustrated by researchers and medical experts the world over. Diseases such as lung cancer are being attributed to smoking and there are evidence to thes e reports. There have also been reports that say that nonsmokers are more at risk. These are the people who actually decided that they will not smoke because they are very well aware of the effects of smoking to their health. But for some reason, they just accidentally inhaled the smoke but their lives were suddenly at risk. Now that is unfair.With this in mind, I believe that smoking in public places must be stopped immediately so as not put the health of nonsmokers at risk.As a final note, governments should seriously consider the urgency of the situation and decide to ban smoking in public places and think of it as a serious matter that must be acted upon in all seriousness.:1986 Report of the Surgeon General, as well as studies by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS).Adler I. Primary malignant growths of the lungs and bronchi. New York: Longmans, Green, and Company; 1912E. A. Martell (1983). Radiation Dose at Bronchial Bifurcations of Smokers from Indoor Exposure to Radon Prog enyWinters et al. (1982). Radioactivity in Cigarette Smoke. New England Journal of Medicine.Witschi 2001, A Short History of Lung Cancer. Toxicol Sci. 2001 Nov;64(1):4-6.World health report 2002: reducing risks, promoting healthy life;