Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke is the name of the bitter, sickening, poisonous smoke arising from the end of a burning cigarette, cigar or pipe. It is also the smoke that has been exhaled by a smoker and blown into the air. Smokers claim it is their "right" to smoke anywhere they choose. However, nonsmokers have the right to breathe smoke-free air.

The next time someone lights up in your presence, think about the following facts:

• Secondhand smoke can produce 6 times the pollution of a busy highway.


• Secondhand smoke causes 30 times as many lung cancer deaths as all other regulated pollutants combined.


• Secondhand smoke makes clothes and hair stink. So much for perfume.


• Secondhand smoke causes wheezing, coughing, colds, earaches, and asthma attacks.


• Secondhand smoke fills the air with many of the same poisons found in the air around a toxic waste dump.


• Secondhand smoke alters the smell and taste of food.


• Secondhand smoke causes reddening, itching and watering of the eyes.


• Secondhand smoke kills about 3,000 nonsmokers each year from lung cancer.


• Secondhand smoke causes up to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in infants and young children each year.
  
• Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention
  

This concludes my anti-smoking blog. Hopefully, someone will read this and decide to quit. I do not advocate taking away the rights of smokers, but I do defend the rights of nonsmokers to breathe fresh air. Always remember, smoking will leave you breathless.