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Letters: The smoking ban
Many smokers admit smoking plays an important role in their lives
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any smokers admit smoking plays an important role in their lives. They cannot do their jobs well without smoking, because it gives them extra energy. They prefer sleeping to working when there is no cigarette heating their throats.
In addition, some smokers say smoking can build up their confidence to speak in public, and they cannot speak fluently if no smoke is fumigating their brains. Meanwhile, other smokers consider smoking is like the food and drink they consume, so promoting a smoking ban in public means an infringement of their right to live.
However, smoking cigarette has side effects. As reported by Quit-Smoking-Stop.com every year hundreds of people around the world die from smoking-related illnesses. The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette they consume temporarily increase their heart rate and blood pressure which strains the heart and blood vessels. This leads to heart attacks, strokes, and limb amputations.
This source added that men who smoke were ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than nonsmokers. Smoking caused around one in five deaths from heart disease. In younger people, three out of four deaths from heart disease were due to smoking. Furthermore, for pregnant woman, smoking may increase the risk of prematurity, spontaneous abortion, and prenatal mortality.
In addition, smoking may harm social life. Preserving the argument that smoking is a right, most active smokers intolerantly smoke everywhere they like, even in public venues such as restaurants, nightclubs, stations or on public transportation, etc., without taking any notice that it could be harmful for nonsmokers. The nonsmokers are exposed to passive smoking as they inhale the smoke exhaled by the active smokers.
The Environmental Protection Agency in the United States estimated that 3,000 non smokers die each year from lung cancer, as a result of breathing in other people's tobacco smoke.
This is biased and an infringement of the right to live healthily. In order to be fair, people should provide smoking rooms in public venues for smokers. In that way, nonsmokers will not be harmed. Indeed, living healthily without smoking is a personal decision.
Elvis Albertus Bin Toni
Jakarta
