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By its very wafting yet cloud-like nature, cigarette smoke seems to cross some kind of invisible line – albeit one fraught with moral judgments. As more cities and states consider bans on smoking in public places, we must continue to grapple with issues of fairness and explore pro and con arguments. For my part, I support smoking bans with very few reservations. If you intuitively support public smoking curtailment but need some logical support, here are some brief arguments in favor of smoking bans.
Why Ban Smoking in Public Places: Negative Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke
Whereas the effects of other self-indulgent, personally harmful behaviors are more singularly linked to the participant, the injurious effects of smoking in public spill over into other peoples lives with a more consistent, tangible, and (sometimes) permanent impact. To underscore this argument, lets contrast smoking with something else: poor dietary choices.
Smoking in public is different from, say, eating greasy fast food for every meal. Both are understood as significantly harmful to the consumer – but in the latter case, the negative impact on other people is indirect. Maybe the poor eater will die earlier, leaving their family members in a tough position. Maybe their habit will result in more time away from work due to illness. Or maybe it just contributes to the arguably negative fast food stronghold on America. While some links are present between the poor eating behavior and consequences for other people, those links are weaker – less immediate – less measurable – and ultimately more debatable when were talking about a lousy diet.
The same cannot be said for smoking. Secondhand smoke exposure is clearly linked with negative outcomes on ones health. While the exact degree of the harm is still debated, its increasingly harder to make a case that second-hand smoke