Have you ever been walking, sitting, or studying in the walkways of Los Angeles Pierce College and found it hard to breath comfortably? This is an everyday occurrence for me and several other students the moment a cigarette is lit. This may appear to be a minor problem, but the effects of second hand smoking are staggering. The health of tens of thousands of nonsmoking Americans a year is affected by the second hand smoke of cigarette smokers. Therefore, I strongly believe that smoking in public spaces should be banded.
For a long time now many people have had different views about smoking in public places. Smokers feel it is their right to smoke where and when they want and feel that smoking in public places should remain to be granted since it is their right. On the other hand non-smokers feel smokers violate their rights, endanger their lives, and firmly believe that smoking in public places should be banned. Second hand smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer and other serious illnesses. A substantial number of lung cancers that occur in non-smokers can be attributed to involuntary smoking.
According to Patricia Reaney Reuters, a columnist for the Health Expert Magazine, "Billions of people around the world who are exposed to second-hand smoke may have an increased risk of developing lung cancer because passive smoking causes the disease. A comprehensive review of medical studies by researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) showed passive smoking causes cancer and that chemicals and gases and tobacco contribute to cancer of the stomach, liver, kidney, uterine cervix and to myeloid leukaemia- (1).
The deaths of over 420,000 Americans this year will be attributable to cigarettes, While the link between smoking and lung cancer has been widely accepted for quite some time, the link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer is newer but increasingly proven through research.
