Smoking

            Second hand smoke, also called Environmental Tobacco smoke or passive smoke, is the smoke that people breathe when they are in the same place as smokers. Second hand smoke is most hazardous in workplaces, such as bars, restaurants and casinos. Cigarette smoke contains over 400 chemicals and over 40 have been shown to cause cancer.(Arizona Smokers'.) It can cause both immediate and long term effects on human health. Secondhand smoke contains more carbon monoxide and more tar than the smoke actually inhaled by the smoker. (About second hand smoke).
             There are at least two rationales for banning smoking in restaurants and bars. They are protecting customers and protecting workers. In Sidney Zion's article about secondhand smoke, Zion talks about how Mayor Bloomberg wants to prohibit smoking almost everywhere in the city. Zion is opposed to what Bloomberg believes. Bloomberg cites studies that say that bartenders and waiters inhale half a pack of cigarettes a day. Although nobody has been able to find these studies, there are many other studies that had different conclusions. There was a study that is stated in Zion's article, that says the United Kingdom conducted a study on bartenders and waiters. This study concluded that they inhaled about six cigarettes a year , not half a pack a day. I was not able to find this study anywhere. I did however find two studies that that stated different numbers.Accourding to a fact sheet prepared by the British Columbia's Capital Region District, "bartenders inhale the equivalent of smoking 1.5-2 packages of cigarettes a day."(Smoking Bans.) This is a much larger amount then that which was found in the United Kingdom study. The other study I found was a British study of nonsmoking adults who work in bars. They showed intakes of nicotine equivalent to half a cigarette a day. This study is the complete opposite from the Britich Columbia study; this was much lower than that of the United Kingdom study.