**49,400 American non-smokers were murdered last year by smokers. That is 135 people per day! **
There is no risk-free level of secondhand smoke exposure. Even brief exposure can be dangerous. (United States Government). A while back I argued that
smoking should be illegal. I also argued that
smoking in the presence of children is child abuse. An unrelated post by L-Girl,
How Much Time Should He Do, got me thinking about what would be suitable punishment for this hypothetical crime: smoking.
I just finished watching "
Thank You for Not Smoking" on
The Movie Network, a very good movie. One of my favourite lines: "if you want a good job, you go work for the Red Cross". Indeed.
Just like the retired "Malboro Man" in "Thank You for Not Smoking", I to helped market cigarettes and lived to regret it. In my case it was for $10 per hour, knocking on doors as part of an anonymous survey. Interestingly enough, we were instructed to check for ID to make sure we weren't interviewing minors (people under 19 years old).
Anyway, I thought it was innocent enough. I was only interviewing heavy smokers, people stupid enough to smoke at least half a pack a day (I had to back out of a survey once when the girl took out her cigarette pack from the freezer).
But no doubt the survey I was conducting was not only to help gain market share, it was also to make smokers smoke MORE.
And to those of you would doubt the power of suggestion and marketing, please note that every one of the people I interviewed took out a cigarette while conducting the interview. No exception. Many would offer me one, and I'd make a point of making a face and laughing, "no I don't smoke". The smokers would usually then ask if I minded if they smoked while we did the survey. I would of course answer that I didn't, but sometimes the cigarette would be lit by the time the answer came out.
What struck me during the survey was the ill will that the companies generated. Many of the smokers hated smoking and hated the people who made and marketed the product. But the most striking of all was the visible and audible signs of sickness that many of the smokers had. Way more than in other surveys I conducted. One guy spoke out of a microphone through a hole in his throat. It wasn't like I was interviewing thousands of people. I did maybe 40 interviews. I would say that EVERY person I spoke to over 30 was suffering in one way or an other from the ill affects of smoking.
"You got to die somehow" say smokers when trying to justify their cancer generating habit. "But you don't have to live in sickness" is what I'd like to answer. You shouldn't be coughing and wheezing by the time you are 32 !
The big problem with smoking isn't that it kills people, it is that is takes to long to kill people. There are no condoms for cigarettes. You smoke, you are "infecting" innocent bystanders; ususally, people that you love, often children.
And smoking is ADDICTIVE. People smoke because they HAVE TO, not necessarily because they want to. So making smoking illegal might not work. Unless of course, the punishment is death.
Many of the USA's states have the death penalty, including the otherwise civilised State of New York. If murderers are being murdered by the state, is it that much of a leap in logic to argue that people who smoke around children should also get the chair?
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Secondhand Smoke Fact Sheet - American Lung Association siteSecondhand smoke causes approximately 3,400 lung cancer deaths and 46,000
heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each
year.4
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Secondhand Smoke OSH CDC-
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MedlinePlus: Secondhand Smoke-
Indoor Air - Secondhand Smoke-
Secondhand Smoke: Questions and Answers - National Cancer Institute-
Second-hand Smoke - Main Page-
Children and Secondhand Smoke-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking-
Protect your lungs - Smoking & tobacco - Second–hand smoke ...-
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Passive Smoking: Fact Sheet no. 8 - ASH-
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The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke -
Second-hand smoke is dangerous-
How dangerous is second-hand cigarette smoke?-
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Secondhand Smoke: What It Is, How to Avoid It, Who's at Risk -
New Dangers of Secondhand Smoke - TIME-
Discovery Channel :: News - Health :: Surgeon General: Beware -
Cigarette Smoke: It's Toxic-
Philip Morris USA - Smoking & Health Issues - Secondhand Smoke"We also believe that the conclusions of public health officials concerning environmental tobacco smoke are sufficient to warrant measures that regulate smoking in public places. We also believe that where smoking is permitted, the government should require the posting of warning notices that communicate public health officials' conclusions that secondhand smoke causes disease in non-smokers. "-
Kids and Second Hand Smoke- [
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Understanding the effects of second hand smoke on our kids may help you give up smoking.
