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Smoking bans: Healthy for non-smokers too.

Ano Lobb | Sunday 1st November 2009

An expert panel convened earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Institute of Medicine in the US examined the effect of second hand smoke on health, as well as the reduction in risk associated with smoking bans. Their recently published findings underline the necessity of smoking bans not only to save smokers from their own bad habits, but to save the rest of us as well. In fact, 43% of non-smoking children and 37% of non-smoking adults in the US are exposed to someone else's tobacco smoke.

The recent review of evidence found a 25-30% increased riskof coronary heart diseaseamong non-smokers regularly exposed to second hand smoke. They also found that the exposure increases the risk of heart attacks by anywhere from 24% in non-smokers exposed 1-7 hours of exposure a week, to 62% for those exposed 22 hours a week or more. The International Agency for Research on Cancer classifies second hand smoke as carcinogenic in humans, and other evidence suggests a 24% increased risk of lung cancer among chronically exposed non-smokers. That's not surprising considering that the noxious brew contains over 4,000 chemicals including 40 known to cause cancer. While the 11 studies that met the CDC/IOM panel's inclusion criteria were not of highest quality, they were in general agreement: Anywhere from 6 to 47% reduced risk of heart disease among non-smokers associated with smoking bans.

Second hand smoke risks are especially troubling among children, who suffer increased rates of everything from asthma to ear infections, to say nothing ofdramatically increased risks for starting the habit themselves. In Britain it's estimated that 17,000 children under age 5 are admitted to hospital every year with illnesses attributable to their parent's smoking. Public smoking bans have been enacted in several countries--including England, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Thailand, Vietnam, Bhutan, and several Canadian provinces and US states--but we need more. For example, at what point does a parent's willingness to unnecessarily expose their child to known toxins become abuse? In the state of New Hampshire a commendable law was recently drafted that sought to outlaw smoking in private cars when children were also riding in them. Unfortunately in that case, the freedom of parents to make poor health decisions trumped the rights of children to good health, and the law never passed. Perhaps that state should consider changing its current motto of "Live Free or Die" to "Live Free and Die," or even more fittingly "Living Free WhileMy Children Die."

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Ano Lobb | Posted: 6 November 2009

Its true that car exhaust is a health risk, and such particulate matter can dramatically increase risks of heart attacks on especially smoggy days, when you measure actual acute doses, cigarette smoke is staggeringly nasty. Lung cancer rates in the US are so high because of cigarette smoking that most cancer comaprisons are made against "cancers other than lung cancer." The increased risk to smokers of lung (and other) cancers, as well as everything else from heart disease to erectile disfunction to dental caries, is higher than most people imagine. And there are few legal substances that I could expose my children to even once or twice and have it result in immediate increases in risk for health conditions such as ear infections (minor but painful and costly) and asthma (life threatening). 20 percent of Americans is still a LOT of people, and while our polluting cars get us to work, cigarettes provide no social benefits. Lets drive less and snuff out cigs.

DH Fabian | Posted: 5 November 2009

This is an issue where common sense has disappeared. Smoking is already prohibited in public buildings. Most of us have NO exposure to tobacco smoke, yet the rates of "smoking-related disease" continue to soar. Under 20% of US adults smoke. The most carcinogenic smoke is the kind that contains oil particles -- traffic fumes. Each time you turn the ignition key in your car, you are putting more people at risk of "smoking related disease" than a crowd of tobacco smokers.

The anti-smoking campaign been a powerful tool for avoiding the actual leading cause of breathing-related disease. Americans insist that they have the RIGHT to drive as much as they wish, and don't wish to be inconvenienced by reasonable restrictions. And It's easier to point the finger at someone else.

It's not tobacco that's killing off the rain forests and melting polar ice. It isn't smoking that creates that yellowish dome of smoke that enables you to spot distant cities on the horizon. It's your car.