Should Smoking be Banned in Public Places?

In the paper I will summarize my topic and include quotes to support both sides of the argument. Smoking is happening everywhere in the world. Cigarette smoking has been linked to numerous types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and respiratory illness (Coughlin, S. S., Anderson, J., & Smith, S. A. 2015). Many people are addicted and won’t quit even understanding how harmful it is to their health. Every one of five deaths are caused by cigarettes in the United States (Zablocki, Rong W, Edland, Steven D, Myers, Mark G, Strong, David R, Hofstetter, C. Richard, and  Al-Delaimy, Wael K, 2013). Smoking not only leads to health problems for the smoker, but also for people close by. Secondhand smoking has been shown to cause cancer and produce the same health problems as smoking firsthand. Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer and living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by twenty percent to thirty percent (Coughlin, S. S., Anderson, J., & Smith, S. A., 2015). As a result, many believe that smoking should be banned in public places while other argue that smoking should not be banned in public places.

Over the decade, banning smoking has been attempted. Nonsmokers are now more worried about the bystanders and the environment. “An area that overlaps both personal and environmental health is cigarette smoking. Cigarettes pollute the smoker with a variety of substances, adversely affecting personal health. Moreover, cigarette smoke is also a source of air pollution” (Barth, J. M. (1986). Nonsmoker have used the First Amendment, the Due Process Clause, and the Ninth Amendment to try and ban smoking in public places. The first amendment grants everyone freedom which allows nonsmokers to have the right to breathe in smoke free air in public places. Nonsmoker who are continuously inhaling smoke are in danger of their “life” and nonsmokers are denied “liberty” when they are forced to breathe in cigarette-smoke. The ninth amendment states people have rights that must not be taken by others. As a society, we owe its members the right to a healthy environment. “When such a law is passed that provides a healthy environment, then we have incorporated what is considered a human right into a legally protected right” (Dresler, C., Cherry, M., & Sade, R.,2008). The study from “Smoking Ban Policies and their Influence on Smoking Behaviors Among Current California Smokers” showed California smokers who lived in a city with a smoking ban had an increase in smoking reduction and quit attempts compared to those who did not. Table number three showed the estimated amount of smoking reduction and quit attempts among smokers by demographic and smoking ban policies.

Colleges and universities have banned smoking in campuses to protect student health. Students tend to find it difficult to walk around campus because they have a hard time breathing due to smokers (Massa, Annie, 2012). At Michigan State University, when caught smoking on campus you will be fined $150. “Across the U.S., more than 1,400 colleges ban smoking on campus, with 1,137 campuses being completely tobacco-free” (Dimmer, Olivia, 2016). According to the survey taken by students in Michigan State University, it showed that 64.5% of students saw a decrease in smoking on campus and 4% said they planned to stop smoking completely. At Ohio State, instead of fining the students they offered resources to help them quit. Ohio State spokesman Benjamin Johnson said the end goal is fostering culture change across campus.

On the other hand, having a smoking ban in public places takes away smokers first and ninth amendment rights. They have the freedom and pleasure to do whatever they want with their own body. There are millions of obese people who are still eating unhealthily, but no actions have been taken to ban fast food restaurant that provide unhealthy food. This is a similar case to smoking. “In 1979, the Surgeon General’s report stated that healthy nonsmokers exposed to ambient smoke suffer little or no physiologic response. The report also suggested that the reaction some passive smokers allege may be psychological. Furthermore, the Surgeon General observed that the available evidence is inconclusive regarding the effects of passive smoking” (Dresler, C., Cherry, M., & Sade, R., 2008). Banning smoking would affect private and public goods. The ban would take away the moral priority of individual autonomy. Smoker will not quit because of a ban or a law because they have been smoking for a very long term.

Students who smoke are very furious about smoking ban in their campus. They believe it’s a very stupid rule as now they must leave campus to smoke. This will be very time consuming as sometimes leaving campus tends to take five to ten minutes (Massa, Annie, 2012). A student said that “It’s not like I’m hurting anyone. Obviously secondhand smoke is a terrible thing, and I support anyone’s right to not be around secondhand smoke, but I’m not forcing you to sit next to me in a small room while I smoke. … I feel like I’m not doing anything wrong, and that’s just violating my right to smoke (Dimmer, Olivia, 2016). Students have hard time in college and having the time to smoke and take mind off their schoolwork helps them relieve stress.

In conclusion, both sides of the argument are valid. People will continue to argue over this for a very long time as there is not a solution that can make both sides favorable. Smoking have been banned in certain places and some people know which place are considered to be able to smoke in. For instance, you cannot smoke during a class or lecture as it will show a level of disrespect toward your fellow students and professor. Many other places such as theater, office, and bank where smoking will get you kicked out. You can smoke while walking down the block or anywhere public.

A solution to this problem is to have everyone in the states vote as to whether they want to allow or completely ban smoking in public places. Another solution would be to add smoking areas- this is already happening today, but a catch is that if someone is found to be smoking in public place where it is not allowed; that person would be fined a certain amount of money

• Smoking areas are present at airports and semi-public buildings. The room is called smoking lounge.

At the end of the day, either smoking will be completely banned to prevent people from killing themselves or we continue to market cigarette and produce money off it. If smoking is banned in public areas, it will promote a healthier lifestyle and environment. The ban will eliminate encouragement for children and teenagers who might think smoking is cool. But this will increase smoking at home creating an unhealthy home.

 

 

References

Barth, J. M. (1986). The Public Smoking Controversy: Constitutional Protection v. Common Courtesy. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy, 2, 215-230.

Coughlin, S. S., Anderson, J., & Smith, S. A. (2015). Legislative smoking bans for reducing exposure to secondhand smoke and smoking prevalence: Opportunities for Georgians. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4560263/.

Dimmer, Olivia (2016). More campuses have smoking bans — but do they work? Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2016/10/06/more-campuses-have-smoking-bans-but-do-they-work/37422275/

Dresler, C., Cherry, M., & Sade, R. (2008). A Clash of Rights: Should Smoking Tobacco Products in Public Places be Legally Banned? The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 86(3), 699-707.

Massa, Annie (2012). Smoking bans spark controversy. Retrieved from https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2012/06/08/smoking-bans-spark-controversy/37394319/

Zablocki, R., Edland, S., Myers, M., Strong, D., Hofstetter, C., & Al-Delaimy, W. (2014). Smoking ban policies and their influence on smoking behaviors among current California smokers: A population-based study. Preventive Medicine, 59(1), 5 Pages.