New York City Bans Outdoor Smoking
by On May 23, 2011, a ban on outdoor smoking in New York City takes effect. Is this really necessary to protect public health or is this one more example of stamping on smokers’ rights?
On May 23, 2011, a ban on outdoor smoking in New York City will take effect. Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the new legislation into law on Tuesday. Bloomberg says that this action is necessary to insure healthy air for New York City residents. But is banning outdoor smoking iIsn the Big Apple necessary—or even advisable—for public health?
I don’t think so.
Keep in mind that New York City has the largest population of any U.S. city. And what do cities with large populations have? Cars and taxis and trucks and buses…and exhausts and air pollution to go with them.
Yet government officials want to, yet again, blame all asthma, breathing disorders, and lung cancers on smokers. Yes, there have been studies that claim that breathing second hand smoke is just as deadly as if you smoked the cigarette yourself. But there are no studies that suggest that the mere smell of cigarette smoke—such as what would be present in the great outdoors—is dangerous to your health. For that reason, New York City’s outdoor smoking ban is ludicrous and does nothing except take the rights of smokers, who are engaging in the perfectly legal activity of smoking cigarettes, away.
And who am I?
I am a former smoker who gave up this unhealthy habit more than ten years ago. But I would never dream of forcing my choices on other smokers. After all, this is America, a country that used to pride itself on being “the land of the free.”
SOURCE: News Daily
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