Attention all smokers and non-smokers: 53,000 Americans die every year from first- or second-hand smoke. That should say something about smoking in public places. It shouldn’t be permitted.
In a Jan. 31 poll, two-thirds of Texans supported a statewide ban on smoking in public places. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said the rights of non-smokers to “breathe clean air” outweigh those of smokers to smoke and restaurant owners to permit it. We should all breathe a sigh of relief.
The health hazards posed to those who don’t smoke and are exposed to tobacco’s 60 known carcinogens are devastatingly high. In 2006, the U.S. surgeon general reported 126 million non-smokers were exposed to tobacco hazards.
That smokers still enjoy cigarettes at others’ expense in states including Texas is outrageous. Seventeen states have enacted bans, but many don’t enforce them. As of April 2006, smoking was banned in Arkansas in “most public places” with some bars and businesses exempt. In January 2006, Chicago banned smoking in most public places, but bars and restaurants with bars are exempt until July 1, 2008. Cities and states like these show support for a nationwide effort to ban smoking but skirt the issue by delaying full prohibition. What’s the point in waiting another year or so? According to estimates by California health officials, that’s another 3,400 deaths due to lung cancer for non-smokers alone.
Dallas is among the cities reluctant to fully enact these laws. Most popular SMU bars don’t ban smoking, which is why non-smoking students tend to reek in their classes on Friday. Restaurants with bars allow smokers to light up when people around them are trying to eat. Not only is this a problem for all adults nationwide-it’s an issue for young people who have made the healthy decision not to smoke.
If all states enact smoke-free laws, restaurants and bars will be on the same playing field. The typical consumer isn’t going to avoid going out just because he or she can’t smoke indoors. A survey on the impact of New York City’s smoking ban confirms that 96 percent of diners surveyed were eating out the same amount or more as a result of the smoke-free restaurant law.
Smoking isn’t “cool” like it used to be. Besides the fact that smoking looks unattractive, exposing non-smokers to serious health hazards just to get a buzz is immoral.
