Source: From a National Post article by Matthew Coutts [http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2876359]
Admissions to Hospital’s for heart and breathing problems have gone down since Toronto has implemented a public smoking ban, according to a recent study. The study found that respiratory problems requiring hospitalization dropped by one-third, while hospitalizations due to heart problems dropped by 17 per cent.
This should not really take any of us by surprise though. For years, the public has been beaten over the brow by anti-smoking legislation and admonitions from the health community regarding the dangers of smoking and second-hand smoke. It is coming to be “common sense” that smoking is deadly.
The City of Toronto’s decision in 2001 to ban smoking in restaurants and bars was controversial and quickly emulated by other communities across the country. It has some smokers feeling under attack. Bumper stickers can be purchased that proclaim “Thank you for not bitching” and accompanied with an image of a lit cigarette.
What lies at the heart of this issue is the idea of personal freedom. As legislation reaches further and further to try and limit the areas where smokers can light up, smokers are less and less able to exercise their freedom of choice. A recent bill has made it illegal to smoke in a car that contains a child. An extension that would make it illegal to smoke in a house that contains a child is being debated.
Second-hand smoke is definitely bad, but just how bad is it? Prohibiting smoking within buildings is reasonable, but what about recent examples of it being banned within certain distances of entrances and exits to buildings? How much farther are we going to push smokers away?
