It is virtually impossible to escape second-hand smoke if you work in a place that does not maintain a smoke-free environment. Only smoke-free buildings and smoke-free public places truly protect nonsmokers from the hazards of breathing in other people’s tobacco smoke.
Some 126 million nonsmokers are exposed to second-hand smoke, which is more commonly called “involuntary smoking,” and it puts people at an increased risk of death from lung cancer, heart disease and other illnesses. Moreover, there is no risk-free level of exposure to someone else’s drifting smoke. I am especially concerned about young children who can’t escape their parents’ addiction.
Don’t your children deserve the chance to breathe clean air? Don’t workers deserve the chance not to have to choose between making a living and leading a healthy life? How fair is it to expose an innocent person to your smoke, which contains more than 4,000 harmful chemical compounds. Nonsmokers, adults and children need protection by the restriction of smoking in public places and workplaces and by smokers voluntarily not puffing around them.
Trinetta Boger
Anniston
