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Sure, but the health effects are smoking are well documented and significantly worse than eating candy bars, or even most other poor diet habits that people hav
by Osiris 11y ago
Sure, but the health effects are smoking are well documented and significantly worse than eating candy bars, or even most other poor diet habits that people have. In addition, cigarettes negatively impact the health of non-smokers that have the misfortune of having sustained contact with a smoker (for example, children) due to not only second-hand smoke but also the toxins that cling to clothing and other surfaces.
It would be different if smoking only affected the smoker, but as it affects the wider population (such as higher overall health care premiums), it deserves stricter controls.
- turkeysandwich 11y agoSecond hand smoke has a much weaker connection to health issues than actual smoking. And the "collective cost" argument is silly, because it can be applied to any personal liberty that negatively affects health.
- donatj 11y agoSecond hand smoke has been debunked years ago. Watch the "Penn and Teller Bullshit" on it. http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/12/12/study-finds-no-link-between-secondhand-smoke-and-cancer/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2013/12/12/study-fi...
- paulcole 11y agoTwo points: 1) From your link, "The study doesn’t cover the many other ill effects of breathing somebody else’s cigarette smoke, of course, which include asthma and possibly cardio-pulmonary disease." So not debunked exactly. 2) Penn & Teller are entertainers (and illusionists). They present controversial opinions for the sake of a TV show. It is not journalism and shouldn't be accepted at face value. ETA: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller:_Bullshit https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller:_Bullshit! Penn says, "right now, as I sit here, there probably is danger in secondhand smoke".
- s73v3r 11y agoNo it hasn't. There was a study that came out after that episode which confirmed secondhand smoke, and caused them to issue a retraction. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s8yqj3EL7A
- sneak 11y agoYour link only says it doesn't cause cancer, not that it is harmless. Asthma sufferers, for example, have all sorts of additional breathing difficulties when forced to breathe smoke (of any kind).
- coldpie 11y agoP&T's Bullshit is a really bad source of information.
- collyw 11y ago"but the health effects are smoking are well documented and significantly worse than eating candy bars, or even most other poor diet habits that people have" Heart disease is a bigger killer than cancer in many countries.