by Bethany Vanderzand

Created on: April 23, 2008

As a smoker, my obvious answer to the posed question would be "Smokers should have rights". As a decent human being who believes in justice and equality, my answer would be "Smokers should definitely have rights!". Don't think me ignorant to the apparent health risks involved in smoke and secondhand smoke - I'm fully aware that it is a disgusting dirty habit, and that it can be harmful to myself and others. However, taking away a person's right to exercise free-will and responsibility for personal health is obsurd. In a free country (something America is supposed to be), I should have the right to do with my body whatever I please. If a man doesn't have rights over his own person, then he has no rights at all.

In this day and age, nearly every American adult drives a car. Cars emit harmful chemicals and pollutants into the atmosphere just as cigarettes do, yet no one argues whether or not drivers should have rights. How about alcohol consumption? Of course, my liver isn't going to be affected by the man who is drinking next to me; however his drunken state could lead him to harass me or others, instigate violence, or endanger the lives of everyone on the road when he gets into his environmentally-unfriendly vehicle. Yet no one argues whether or not drinkers should have rights. Those who are overweight and have poor diets are teaching their children unhealthy eating habits, yet no one argues whether or not fat people should have rights. The point is, in nearly everything we do, we are having a negative affect on someone else, not just by smoking publicly.

The amount of second hand smoke one needs to inhale to have serious physical side effects is significant. A nonsmoker is not going to get cancer, athsma, bronchitis, or any other smoke-induced diseases just by being exposed to secondhand smoke for a few minutes, hours, or even days. The risk comes when that person frequently exposes themselves to secondhand smoke over long periods of time. In other words, if you're constantly surrounded by smoking as a part of your lifestyle or routine, of course you're going to be affected by it, just as you would if you were sucking on the tail pipe of a car every day. Being among such an amount of smoke is a personal choice. There are smoke-free facilities available to you. You don't have to go to a smoke-friendly bar or cafe. You don't have to sit on the edge of the smoking and non section of a restaurant. You don't have to work in a smoke-friendly environment. You can ask

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