Imagine yourself sitting down to dinner at a restaurant. You are sitting down trying to enjoy your dinner when all you can smell is smoke. Not only are you just breathing in the smoke, it is also damaging your body at the same time. Or imagine yourself at your work place, whether it be a restaurant or office, and you are forced to breathe in second-hand smoke the entire time you are there. In this paper you will be informed of the harmful effects of second-hand smoke, and why smoking should be banned from all public places.
When you are a smoker you are making the decision to damage your own body, but little do you know you are also damaging everyone else's body that you are in the room with. John Messmer explains:
"Most of us would agree that no one should be forced to smoke. So why are all of us, including children, expected to smoke against our wills in work places, restaurants and homes? Second-hand smoke makes smokers of us all" (Messmer). New studies suggest that even a small amount of second-hand smoke can cause life-threatening changes to a non-smoker's circulatory system. A study done by Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco says that:
"Tobacco smoke pollution contains several thousands of chemicals, including: two-hundred poisons, and more than fifty chemicals that cause cancer. From a public
health standpoint, there is no debate over the importance of clean indoor air. Tobacco smoke pollution exposure is a serious health risk to all adults and children" (PA alliance). According to Alex Fir,
"Second-hand smoke or ETS (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) is a combination of side stream smoke coming straight from the burning tobacco and the mainstream smoke that is exhaled by the smoker. It comprises of over 4,000 chemical constituents, a large portion of which are the inducers of respiratory illness and around forty are known or suspected carcinogens. About seventy to...