Smoking Ban

Smoking tobacco has been around for more than four hundred years. Millions of Americans smoke cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products on a daily basis, regardless of the negative health aspects. Recently, smoking and smoking bans have become one of the biggest topics in today's society. There are smoking bans being passed in many states across the United States and many countries throughout the world. According to Americans for Nonsmokers Rights, currently 24 states have smoke free workplaces, bars and restaurants and 30 states have smoke free bars and restaurants. Many of the remaining states have some form of a smoking ban such as being banned in the workplace and not in bars and restaurants or not banned in businesses with less than X number of employees.

Apart from protecting people from negative health effects of secondary smoke, these laws are also meant to reduce health care costs, improve cleanliness in public places and to improve workplace by creating a healthy environment for everyone. Cigarette smoke is harmful to the health of smokers and non smokers alike and it demands the use of tax dollars to help those affected by cigarette smoke. According to the Office of the Surgeon General, “Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds. Secondhand smoke contains many of the same chemicals that are present in the smoke inhaled by smokers. Because second hand smoke is generated at lower temperatures and under different conditions than mainstream smoke, it contains higher concentrations of many of the toxins found in cigarette smoke. The National Toxicology Program estimates that at least 250 chemicals in secondhand smoke are known to be toxic or carcinogenic.”

A smoking ban is a public policy that encompasses criminal laws and safety regulations that ban smoking of cigarettes in the workplace or in public places. Most states in the generally define smoking as intake, carrying or possession of any lit tobacco products. Smoking ban...