Secondhand Smoke and Approaching the Solution

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines Secondhand Smoke as “a mixture of gases and fine particles that includes smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe tip; smoke that has been exhaled or breathed out by the person or people smoking, which has at least 250 toxic chemicals, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.” In simple words, if you are a non-smoker and you happen to inhale the smoke a smoker exhales out, it is called secondhand smoke. Nevertheless, we cannot assume it to be less serious than the firsthand smoke.

The health effects of secondhand smoke in non-smokers are as pronounced as those of smoking in smokers. Primarily, it increases the risk factors for heart and lung diseases in children and adults. Children and elderly are at more risk due to the environmental smoke. There is an estimated number of 150,000 to 300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia among the children of age of 18 months and younger due to the secondhand smoke exposure. Not only children, but among non-smoking adults as well, it has caused an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3400 lung cancer deaths annually.

Despite the fact that there are 88 million Americans exposed to this, and even though, it has been decades we are trying to convince people not to smoke, they all have turned deaf ears whenever they hear the words such as “smoke” or “health”. No matter how much we try to convince people by showing “the fear factor” of smoking, people have become immune to such claims. Thus, now, we health educators should approach this in a slightly different way: demonstrating and emphasizing on the positive points of not smoking.

If we have something like the following to spread the positive message, then people might seriously consider stopping smoking:

            If you stop smoking:

        i.            In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate will drop down to normal, and your body temperature increases.

      ii.            In 8 hours, the carbon monoxide (toxic gas) levels will drop by half and oxygen levels return to normal

    iii.            In 24 hours, your chance of having a heart attack will decrease.

     iv.            In 48 hours, all the nicotine will leave your body, and your sense of taste and smell will be normal

This is just a sample of how we can start on positive messages; there are more to this list like the emotional and social benefits of not smoking.

Above mentioned is about benefits of non-smoking which directly affects the number of people being exposed to the smoke they exhale out, that is, secondhand smoke. For reducing secondhand smoke, we can either change the behavior of the smokers or bring smoke-free laws to existence. The latter is more popular nowadays, and thus, there are many places which have gone smoke-free, which has greatly reduced the secondhand smoke in their surroundings.  

To date, 22 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have a law in effect that requires 100% smoke-free workplaces, restaurants and bars. These cover about 47.5% of the total US population, which is a huge deal. Since nearly half are enjoying the benefits of not being exposed to second-hand smoke, why not everyone?

When asked this question, people usually argue about businesses going down in their sales and revenues. In contrast, this has been proven false. There have been a decent number of studies and surveys done in these states which do not show any decline in the revenues of the restaurant and bar business, but rather show slight increases in the profits in some. Like for example, in Massachusetts, after a smoking ban in 2005, the sales and employment at the restaurants throughout the state slightly increased during the first six months disproving the common fear and predictions that the hospitality industry will be negatively impacted. This is just one example, but there are many out there and many to come.

Taking these in mind, there is no doubt we can approach to an effective solution to the slew of problems we have due to smoking and second-hand smoke.

References:

Americans for Non Smokers’ Rights. (2010). Going smoke free. Retrieved from

 http://www.no-smoke.org/goingsmokefree.php

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2010. Secondhand smoke. Retrieved from

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/secondhand_smoke/general_facts/index.htm

Martin, T. (2010, November 5). After the last cigarette: the benefits of quitting smoking begin. Retrieved from

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/afterquitting/a/after_quitting.htm

Smith, S. (2005, April 4). Restaurants, bars gain business under smoke ban. Retrieved from

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2005/04/04/restaurants_bars_gain_business_under_smoke_ban/