Legalized Voluntary Manslaughter

This morning on Facebook, one of our local news channels posted a question about whether or not smoking should be banned in our local parks.  My reply: Ban it! Smokers can kill themselves if they want, but they have no right killing me and my child! Keep your first and secondhand smoke to yourself!  What I found most appalling were the responses of nonsmokers saying that second hand smoke never bothers them.  Huh...maybe they don't understand second hand smoke.  So let me give you some facts...
*There are over 4000 chemical compounds in second hand smoke, 200 of which are known to be poisonous and upwards of 60 have been identified as carcinogens (still think it's no big deal?)
*The US EPA has classified second hand smoke as a Group A Carcinogen (When there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans, the Group A or 1 category is used. Exceptionally, an agent (mixture) may be placed in this category when evidence of carcinogenicity in humans is less than sufficient but there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and strong evidence in exposed humans that the agent (mixture) acts through a relevant mechanism of carcinogenicity)
*Cancers linked to second hand smoke: Lung cancer (3000 non smokers die of lung cancer each year)
                                                                Nasal sinus cavity cancer
                                                                Cervical cancer
                                                                Bladder cancer
*Some chemical compounds found in smoke only become carcinogenic after they've come into contact with certain enzymes found in many of the tissues of the human body.
*Second hand smoke has serious effects on the heart:

• Heart disease mortality - an estimated 35,000 to 62,000 deaths are caused from heart disease in people who are not current smokers, but who are exposed to ETS
• Acute and chronic coronary heart disease
• Passive smoking has been linked to the narrowing of the carotid arteries, which carry blood to the brain
• Exposure to secondhand smoke hastens hardening of the arteries, a condition known as artherosclerosis
• Continual exposure to ETS has been shown to nearly double the chance of heart attack

*Risks of second hand smoke to children:

• Low birthweight for gestational age
• Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)- children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have an increased risk of SIDS.
• The EPA estimates that passive smoking is responsible for between 150,000 and 300,000 of these infections in children under 18 months annually
• Asthma - According to the EPA, between 200,000 and 1,000,000 kids with asthma have their condition worsened by secondhand smoke every year. Also, passive smoking may also be responsible for thousands of new cases of asthma every year
• Chronic respiratory symptoms such as cough and wheezing may be attributed to secondhand smoke.
• Children who breathe in secondhand smoke are more likely to suffer from dental cavities, eye and nose irritation, and irritability
• Middle ear infections - exposure to ETS causes buildup of fluid in the middle ear, resulting in 700,000 to 1.6 million physician office visits yearly

*Over  600,000 people die each year due to second hand smoke (379,000 deaths from heart disease, 165,000 deaths from lower respiratory disease, 36,900 deaths from asthma and 21,400 deaths from lung cancer a year)

So why accuse smokers of legalized voluntary manslaughter?  The numbers speak for themselves.  People are dying every day (1,644 actually) because of second hand smoke.  We as non smokers need to take a stand against this! Smoking is the only addiction that actually affects other people.  Why should we suffer because someone else is addicted to it?  Granted the numbers I have posted refer to cigarette smoke, but what about second hand smoke of pot, crack, meth?  What if you don't know you're being exposed to the second hand smoke of crack because you didn't realize that the carcinogens found in second hand smoke remain on clothing long after the smoker last smoked.  Is it fair that non smokers are forced to inhale a smoker's second hand smoke?  Sure you could tell me to breathe somewhere else, but when I'm out in a park I should be able to breathe in the fresh air and not smell someone's smoke!  It's rude and my child doesn't need to be exposed to it either.  So you might tell me to not go to that park, well I'm telling you to smoke in your own home where you are only killing yourself and those that choose to be around you.  Yes I have friends that smoke, some that are proabably going to read this, but not a single one of them smokes around my child!  And if you smoke around me and I choose not to say anything that is my choice.  However, you might find me speaking up a little more because I'm fed up with smokers saying it is their right to smoke.  You're absolutely correct, but because you have the right to smoke does NOT give you the right to do so anywhere you choose.  I have the right to go to the bathroom when I need to, but that doesn't give me the right to do it into your drinking water.  It is also my right to be in a park or any other PUBLIC place and not inhale someone's second hand smoke.  When you're in private do what you want, I couldn't care less.  But when you are in public you do not have the right to infringe on my fresh, breathable air!


Seconhand smoke on About.com 
Huffington Post - Second hand smoke
Nasal Sinus Cancer facts