Smoking Out in Public: What is truly justifiable?

Back before the 1990's, smoking was primarily allowed in any public area. This included restaurants, workplaces, and even hospitals. But once the late 90's and the early 2000's hit, smoking in public areas started to become a little more frowned upon. More smoking in public bans were brought into place. At the time when all this change was taking place, regular smokers were not thrilled with the banning of public smoking. Many argued that second-hand smoke could do nothing to someone or that people had the option to inhale second-hand smoke. However, the CDC has proven that there is no risk-free level of second-hand smoke and that quick exposure to smoke can cause harm. So the real question to ask here is, why is there 28 states in the U.S. that have laws prohibiting smoking in public places, while 22 states still remain unprotected from second-hand smoke in public areas? Is smoking in public justifiable or should smoking be banned in public areas in all states?

Let us just look at the one side of the argument here for a moment. To fully understand what is going on, we need to look at why people are for smoking in public and don't want public smoking to be prohibited. The first argument for why smoking in public should be allowed is because passive smokers (second-hand smokers) choose to breathe in other people's smoke. People believe that if these non-smokers don't want to second-hand smoke, they shouldn't go to places where smoking in public is okay. The second argument used is that workers in these public environments that allow smoking chose to work there. The workers were aware of the consequences of second-hand smoking. People choose to work in dangerous conditions all the time, whether that be mining, deep sea fishing, or fighting in the armed forces. So what is different from workers choosing to work in a place allowing public smoking? Another major argument some people make for allowing public smoking is that banning public smoking will just make it more prominent to smoke in the home, which would be around children or pets, leading to respiratory problems for the kids and animals.

Now that you have seen some reasons as to why smoking should be allowed in public areas, let us look at the reasons as to why it should be prohibited in public everywhere. In a study published on September 29th, 2009, researchers found that smoking in public bans can reduce the number of heart attacks by roughly 26 percent. People also can make the argument that smoking in public can trigger some serious health problems for nonsmokers that get the second-hand smoke. Almost 100 million Americans suffer from breathing related conditions and getting any amount of second-hand smoke can really affect someone in a terrible way. A hidden argument too that many forget about is that smoking in public causes more litter in public areas. The butts of cigarettes make up for millions of pieces of litter and make public places look trashy is what many people believe. Getting rid of public smoking could greatly decrease the amount of litter in public areas.

Whether smoking should be prohibited in public places all over the country or not, it is a highly debated topic that has been going around since scientists really started to see the effects of cigarettes. People on both sides of the spectrum have their arguments for their respective side. It is hard to tell what the future will hold in regard to smoking being allowed in public areas. What do you think our country and states should do? Do you agree with smoking in public? Or should public smoking be prohibited everywhere?

Picture is from Discover Magazine.