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| Smoking bans are healthy solution to a problem |
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Aug 17, 2008 |
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Augusta Chronicle
By Franklin Fronek | Guess Columnist
It is commonly thought when new laws are put into effect that they are an infringement on rights. This is a very common argument against smoking bans in restaurants, bars and other places of business -- that they are an infringement on business owners' rights.
However, most of the people involved in a successful business are its customers, and a smoking ban is for their benefit.
Smoking is by far the most preventable cause of death in the United States and the world. Today, more than half the U.S. population lives with smoking bans in restaurants, bars and workplaces.
Numerous polls on smoking bans have been conducted in the United States. Almost all show that voters favor smoking bans.
A poll done in Colorado before its smoking ban was enacted showed that 66 percent of those surveyed favored it.
Breathing even a little secondhand smoke poses a risk to our health. It causes heart disease by affecting blood platelets and reducing coronary flow. It can damage the lining of airways and can trigger symptoms such as coughing, phlegm, wheezing, breathlessness and asthma.
Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory infections, ear problems and asthma.
It has been shown that heart attack rates fall after smoking bans are put in place.
Smoking bans also encourage smokers to quit. In England, 400,000 people have quit since a smoking ban was introduced there last year.
Similar results have been reported in the United States. A study done in Helena, Mont., by the British Medical Journal in 2004 showed a 40 percent drop in heart attacks after a smoking ban was put in place.
Smoking costs vary by state. However, the cost is tremendous. It is estimated that smoking costs Florida's economy more than $20 billion a year, or nearly $7,000 per smoker, according to a report released in March 2007.
Clearly, smoking and secondhand smoke cause health and economic problems. Smoking bans help alleviate these problems.
Dr. Franklin Fronek is a chemist and a longtime advocate of smoking bans. He lives in Greely, Colo., and wrote in response to the city of Aiken's recent enactment of a smoking ban. |
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| PO Box 1017 Prosperity, South Carolina 29127 PH (803) 364-1011 FAX (803) 364-0116 |
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