Editorial: Contaminated Air Is Everywhere! by Guadalupe

Did you know second hand smoke exposure causes disease and premature death in children and adults. Crazy right?... Let’s establish what second hand smoke is:  according to the American Cancer Society”, second hand smoke (SHS) is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). SHS is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that come from burning tobacco:

• Sidestream smoke – smoke from the lighted end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar
• Mainstream smoke – the smoke exhaled by a smoker”

People who don’t take the risk themselves are still at risk because of other people! There are a lot of people who take extreme measures to avoid exposure to secondhand smoke. There are many stories such as that of Patrick, a 14 year old boy whose mother smokes in the car and home around her son when she knows he suffers from asthma. When he's with his Mom, he has asthma, bronchitis and frequent infections. Patrick’s father had a "smoke free home" clause put in the custody order for their son in the divorce court order, but she persists in smoking around him anyway. As a final step before taking this situation back to court on this issue, Patrick’s father began to send his son to her home with a gas mask that he intends to wear when he is around her. Patrick supports her quitting.

According to Dosomething.org, pregnant women subjected to secondhand smoke are vulnerable to spontaneous abortion, stillborn birth, low birth weight for babies, and other pregnancy related problems. What people don’t understand is that pregnant women aren’t just eating for two, but they’re breathing for two. So with that being said, smoking in any area where youth can be walking by should be banned. If people want to smoke there should be a place to go and smoke with other smokers because that way the secondhand smoke can  affect the people who are already doing harm to themselves. Regardless, I believe smoking should be banned and tobacco should become illegal. It has been proved other Illegal substances are “better” than tobacco. There are laws to protect non-smokers such as the  C.C.S.M. c. S125 amended  1. An Act to Protect the Health of Non-Smokers is amended by this Act. 2. The title is repealed and "The Non-Smokers Health Protection Act" is substituted.

My suggestion would be to make all outdoor non-recreational public areas smoke free!