Smoking in Public Places should be banned

Introduction

In recent years, many countries have enacted the laws banning smoking at different places. These bans prohibit smoking at public places. These places do not only include places owned publicly but also places that are privately owned where citizens are invited such as hotel lobbies, bars, restaurants, parks, etc.). Advocates of the ban stress that these laws are necessary to decrease the health risk and to promote welfare and protecting rights of non-smoking patrons along with the regulated establishment employees.

Discussion

Much research has been conducted during last three decades which presents a definitive evidence of harmful effects of smoking for secondhand smoke causing shortens life span and serious diseases. According to the Surgeon General Report (2006) it is concluded that passive smoking cause coronary heart disease, lung cancer, and premature death. Owing to this fact, legislations and laws that eradicate smoking at public places will decrease the weight of premature mortality and chronic disease.

A great deal of evidence also proposes that passive smoking also expose people to the exacerbation of adult asthma. Valuable information about vulnerability of passive smokers has been provided by Menzies et al. (pp. 1742-1748). According to the research study, after banning of smoking in cars, great improvement in pulmonary function of workers with asthma was observed. The authors found an evidence of decreased airway inflammation among workers with asthma and their quality of life was also improved. This study shows that smoke-free places are beneficial for people with chronic airway disease such as asthma.

Other respiratory health benefits were also observed through different studies. For example a study conducted by Eisner et al. (pp. 1909-1914) indicates that legislation banning smoking in taverns and bars in California led to significantly decreased exposure of secondhand smoke among workers as well as the attendees. Due to this reduced exposure, pervasiveness of respiratory symptoms such as wheeze, cough, and short breath, along with sensory irritation symptoms such as throat, eyes, and nose irritation, also greatly declined. The study also suggested an improvement in pulmonary functions due to reduced secondhand smoke exposure.

Another benefit of creating smoke-free public places is the higher rate of smoking quitting among the active smokers. As public places include bars, restaurants, hotels, as well as work places, the ban urge active smokers to decrease their daily consumption of cigarettes. For example, according to a study conducted by Fong et al. (pp. iii51-iii58) indicates that the soon after an Irish smoke-free workplace was enacted, about 15% of workers quit smoking. This finding suggests that smoke-free public places lead to significant health advantages by decreasing both active and passive smoking. Many countries have enacted laws banning smoking in public places. Ireland was the first country to pass a national workplace smoking ban in 2004. Norway, Scotland, Italy, and Sweden soon followed and have prohibited smoking at public places, particularly work places. At this time, 11 US states, 5 European nations, 9 Canadian provinces, regions of Australia, New Zealand, and other ...