So why isn't smoking banned yet?

[Wilfire]

Health Risks of Secondhand Smoke
What is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke (SHS) is also called environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). It’s a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco:

Mainstream smoke: The smoke exhaled by a smoker.
Sidestream smoke: Smoke from the lighted end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, or tobacco burning in a hookah. This type of smoke has higher concentrations of cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) and is more toxic than mainstream smoke. It also has smaller particles than mainstream smoke. These smaller particles make their way into the lungs and the body’s cells more easily.

When non-smokers are exposed to SHS it’s called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in SHS take in nicotine and toxic chemicals the same way smokers do. The more SHS you breathe, the higher the levels of these harmful chemicals in your body.
Why is secondhand smoke a problem?

Secondhand smoke (SHS) has the same harmful chemicals that smokers inhale. There’s no safe level of exposure for secondhand smoke (SHS).
Secondhand smoke causes cancer

Secondhand smoke is known to cause cancer. It has more than 7,000 chemicals, including at least 70 that can cause cancer.

SHS causes lung cancer – even in people who have never smoked. There’s also some evidence suggesting it might be linked in adults to cancers of the:

Larynx (voice box)
Pharynx (throat)
Nasal sinuses
Brain
Bladder
Rectum
Stomach
Breast

It’s possibly linked in children to:

Lymphoma
Leukemia
Liver cancer
Brain tumors

Secondhand smoke causes other diseases and death

Secondhand smoke can be harmful in many ways. For instance, it affects the heart and blood vessels, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke in non-smokers. Some studies have linked SHS to mental and emotional changes, too. For instance, some studies have shown that exposure to SHS is linked to symptoms of depression. More research is needed to better understand the link between SHS and mental health.
Secondhand smoke and your children’s health

Young children are most affected by SHS and least able to avoid it. Most of their exposure to SHS comes from adults (parents or others) smoking at home. Studies show that children whose parents smoke:

Get sick more often
Have more lung infections (like bronchitis and pneumonia)
Are more likely to cough, wheeze, and have shortness of breath
Get more ear infections

Secondhand smoke can also trigger asthma attacks, make asthma symptoms worse, and even cause new cases of asthma in kids who didn’t have symptoms before.

Some of these problems might seem small, but they can add up quickly. Think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must stay home with a sick child. And this doesn’t include the discomforts that the child goes through.

In very young children, SHS also increases the risk for more serious problems, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Where is secondhand smoke a problem?

You should be especially concerned about exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in these places:
At work

The workplace is a major source of SHS exposure for many adults.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), federal agencies responsible for health and safety in the workplace, recognize there are no known safe levels of SHS and recommend that exposures be reduced to the lowest possible levels.

The Surgeon General has said that smoke-free workplace policies are the only way to prevent SHS exposure at work. Separating smokers from non-smokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating the building cannot prevent exposure if people still smoke inside the building. An extra bonus of workplace smoking restrictions, other than protecting non-smokers, is that they may also encourage smokers to smoke less, or even quit.
In public places

Everyone can be exposed to SHS in public places where smoking is allowed, such as some restaurants, shopping centers, public transportation, parks, and schools. The Surgeon General has suggested people choose smoke-free restaurants and businesses, and let owners of businesses that are not smoke-free know that SHS is harmful to your family’s health.

Public places where children go are a special area of concern. Make sure that your children’s daycare centers and schools are smoke-free.

Some businesses might be afraid to ban smoking, but there’s no strong evidence that going smoke-free is bad for business.
At home

Making your home smoke-free may be one of the most important things you can do for the health of your family. Any family member can develop health problems related to SHS. Children’s growing bodies are especially sensitive to the toxins in SHS. And think about it: we spend more time at home than anywhere else. A smoke-free home protects your family, your guests, and even your pets.

Multi-unit housing where smoking is allowed is a special concern and a subject of research. Tobacco smoke can move through air ducts, wall and floor cracks, elevator shafts, and along crawl spaces to contaminate units on other floors, even those that are far from the smoke. SHS cannot be controlled with ventilation, air cleaning, or by separating smokers from non-smokers.
In the car

Americans spend a great deal of time in cars, and if someone smokes there, the toxins can build up quickly – even when the windows are open or the air-conditioner is on. Again, this can be especially harmful to children.

In response to this fact, many medical expert groups have been working to encourage people to make their cars, as well as their homes, smoke-free. Some states and cities even have laws that ban smoking in the car if carrying passengers under a certain age or weight. And many facilities such as city buildings, malls, schools, colleges, and hospitals ban smoking on their grounds, including their parking lots.

It's cool if people f!ck themselves right into the ground with poor life choices, but why should others suffer the consequences of people not being able to let go of their adult pacifiers?

[minteK917]

Well its banned in all public spaces here, its illegal to smoke indoor in any work place as well, smoking area must be 10 meters away from any windows or doors. You can only smoke at home or outdoor 10 meters away from buildings. Private buildings are allowed to outright make smoking in any of their location impossible. You are not allowed to smoke under 10 meters of another citizen window or door. So i mean at this point, i think its fine. We arent in the 70s anymore. You go to a public event and youll never see anyone smoke. Go back 50 years and the public event has a grey cloud 1 meter above it, indoor or outdoor.

[Jimson]

It's cool if people f!ck themselves right into the ground with poor life choices, but why should others suffer the consequences of people not being able to let go of their adult pacifiers?

As a smoker, believe me when I say that I think the $8 or so a pack I'm paying will ease your hurt a little bit. Enjoy that tax money.

[Deleted]

Because it isn't within reality to actually ban it yet.

[shadowmouse]

Among other things, there are questions about the actual dangers of second hand smoke.

Other than that, we also have freedom of association. If you love refried beans but fart too much, I can choose not to sit in a small room with you. The same goes for cigarettes. One of us can leave. I don't need the government to try to regulate something that would take constant government intrusion into my everyday life, I can deal with it on my own. You can't?

[Deleted]

It may be banned on paper, but in practise? Good luck calling cops on someone, before they come he will be long gone.

[the game]

smokers are a bunch of selfish assholes. Always throwing the cigarette butts on the ground instead of in the ash trey or the disposal unit that they're standing right next to. Smoking in places it is banned and having absolutely no consideration for anyone but themselves.

[Draco-Onis]

Among other things, there are questions about the actual dangers of second hand smoke.

Aside from the random sponsored studies the effects of second hand smoke are pretty solid there is no ambiguity.

Other than that, we also have freedom of association. If you love refried beans but fart too much, I can choose not to sit in a small room with you. The same goes for cigarettes. One of us can leave. I don't need the government to try to regulate something that would take constant government intrusion into my everyday life, I can deal with it on my own. You can't?

But your refried beans don't cost money in terms of healthcare or actual harm to others outside. The government regulates a lot of aspects of our lives so this is not a good reason. The real reason smoking isn't banned is that it is a multi trillion dollar industry and some countries like China the government makes a killing literally from it. When enough money is involved you can be sure the negatives will be ignored.

[jtstormrage]

In England, smoking generates £9bn for the Treasury. Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/upload...etin_Final.pdf

This is why

[zenkai]

It's cool if people f!ck themselves right into the ground with poor life choices, but why should others suffer the consequences of people not being able to let go of their adult pacifiers?

You have people trying to legalize weed and ban smoking, so much stupid in the world.

[Dug]

It's already banned in plenty of places but banning it fully is never going to happen because the Tobacco industry makes a lot of money. Same with alcohol and either way people will just do it anyways even if it was outlawed.

[Deleted]

As a smoker, believe me when I say that I think the $8 or so a pack I'm paying will ease your hurt a little bit. Enjoy that tax money.

Money doesn't make others immune to lung cancer.

[Citizen T]

There are no clearly defined health problems linked to second hand smoke. Look in your own article:

There’s also some evidence suggesting it might be linked in adults to cancers of the:

It’s possibly linked in children to:

Secondhand smoke causes other diseases and death

Notice they say "might be linked", "possibly linked", etc.

The only definitive statement there is a vague statement of other diseases and death with absolutely no evidence provided.

[vipers]

when ppl waiting on bus stop some reason allways some idiot have go middle crowd of ppl to smoke

[Miyagie]

Maybe you should work 1 or 2 month in a nurseryhome to see the benefits of shorting your lifespan by 10-20 years ^^.

[Wildtree]

You have people trying to legalize weed and ban smoking, so much stupid in the world.

What has one to do with the other?

[shadowmouse]

The government regulates a lot of aspects of our lives so this is not a good reason.

You are entitled to think that. Thanks, but I don't. I do not need the government to tell me the "right" way to have sex, but it was once accepted that they did. There are a lot of other things someone else would like to tell me how to do, thanks but I'll do it myself.

[Wildtree]

when ppl waiting on bus stop some reason allways some idiot have go middle crowd of ppl to smoke

You are triggered by someone who smokes, I am triggered by someone unable to spell simple words.

[Jimson]

Money doesn't make others immune to lung cancer.

Lung cancer is going to exist regardless of smoking, and if 3000/year die because of smoking but the government takes in $15.5B to fund research and do other things I think it's a sad but necessary tradeoff.

https://www.google.com/search?q=lung...hrome&ie=UTF-8

https://www.google.com/search?q=gove...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Boraal]

There are no clearly defined health problems linked to second hand smoke. Look in your own article:





Notice they say "might be linked", "possibly linked", etc.

The only definitive statement there is a vague statement of other diseases and death with absolutely no evidence provided.

You should team up with climate change deniers, you guys would have a helluva time.