Speaking of smoking, there is another issue that you have not examined. Personally, I hate smoking and I wish it would be banned for everyone, everywhere. However, it is obvious that the strong tobacco lobbyists in this country will not allow that to happen without a fight. Nonetheless, there have been great strides made for the anti-smoking campaign. Smoking is banned on most airlines on domestic and even on international flights, vending machines are being removed to reduce access for younger children, and several products are being heavily advertised that aid smokers in kicking the habit. While these are all great steps in the right direction, there is one place that smoking really needs to be banned-the front door entrance to every building.
I am glad that smoking is unlawful in my office because I would probably end up in the hospital with breathing difficulty if it wasn't; but the problem is that now I cannot safely exit my office building. The few people who continue to smoke are creating a death trap for everyone who enters and leaves the building.
It is really pathetic if you look around the entrances to many office buildings and find a group of addicts (because smoking is addictive) huddled around in a little circle puffing away. Many say they are not addicted to smoking. If that is true, maybe they could give me a logical explanation as to why someone would leave their office when it is 10 below zero degrees outside, wrapped in layers of clothes, huddled in a corner by the entrance to the building, just to smoke a cigarette!!! While I would definitely prefer that these people keep their smoking outdoors, they are still polluting the air that we all have to breathe each time we go through that entrance. It's disgusting to go out to lunch and on the way, inhale about an entire cigarette's worth of second-hand smoke!!!
The unfortunate reality is that until smoking is banned completely, the non-smoking public will still be exposed to the harmful second-hand smoke produced by the addicts.
Donna M. Duggan