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I see a lot of propaganda for both sides of this "public health" argument. Some examples:

"The Anti-Smoking Conspiracy: Attacks on smokers destroy your liberties, too."

"Kills everything within 40 feet." (An anti-smoking flyer featuring a grenade.)

"Anti-Smoking Nazis Sig Heil Their Agenda."

"Non-smokers have rights, too."

If I ever encounter a smoker or non-smoker who hasn't heard about the health risks of cigarette smoking to smokers and everyone around them, I will be surprised. Most people have heard about the risks of developing lung cancer, emphysema, asthma, and perhaps even heart disease. Some people have heard about the risks to children of developing learning disabilities, growth retardation, and immune system damage, just from being around smokers.

I'm a non-smoker.

I'm a pregnant woman who gets up from the bus stop bench when a smoker lights up next to her.

I'm a mother who guides her children in a wide berth around clouds of cigarette smoke as we walk down the sidewalk.

I'm the daughter of two parents who have smoking-related health problems. My father died at age fifty from those problems. I have lingering problems myself from growing up in a smoking home.

I'm also a person who believes strongly in freedom of choice.

I WISH smokers would demonstrate care and take responsibility for the health risks to themselves and everyone around them. I wish smokers would choose not to smoke around non-smokers.

I don't wish for anti-smoking laws. I don't wish for a war against smoking.

I wish people cared more about themselves and others, the ones near and dear and the ones they pass on the sidewalk.

To answer the opening question in a strictly literal sense, "Should smokers bear the responsibility for the health risks of cigarette smoking?," I would have to respond, No. However, I've chosen to respond, Yes, but with a condition:

One takes responsibility by responding. I wish smokers would do this. One cannot bear responsibility, unless by this we mean forcing anti-smoking laws on people. This doesn't allow smokers to take responsibility, to feel good about caring for the health of themselves and others. I want to see real change. I want smokers to take responsibility, not to bear it.

My mother recently quit smoking after a lifetime of smoking. She didn't do it because of smoking bans or increased taxes. She did it because she finally valued her health and the health of her family over what she got from smoking. I would not have felt as pleased and proud of my mother if she had quit for any other reason.

Learn more about this author, Sara Mcgrath.
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