by M. Teresa Blaylock

Created on: February 26, 2007   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

It's only been fairly recently that the general public has become aware of the consequences of smoking. Tobacco was a huge cash crop in the New World, and for years, smoking was the thing to do. Look at the movies from the '50s and '60s. Everyone is smoking! At that time, it was not considered unethical, immoral, or anything like that. My grandmother used to fondly remember her pastor dropping by the house, then sitting down and having a cigarette with her as they chatted about religion.

However, we are now aware of the harmful effects of smoking. Many older adults from this earlier "smoking generation" are hopelessly addicted. My grandfather and grandmother both smoked like freight trains. Eventually, my grandfather died in the hospital, due, in part, to complications from emphysema. My grandmother suffered from COPD for years before she died. She had to use an inhaler, and at one point was on oxygen just so she could breathe.

I myself smoked for awhile. I was a young college student, and found that the nicotine in cigarettes helped to relieve stress. (Plus, a cigarette was a handy thing to have in my hand at the bar). I quickly realized how problematic smoking could be. Because my grandparents had raised me, continuously smoking in the house with the windows closed, I had lived in a toxic environment for about fifteen years. When I began smoking myself, my lungs just couldn't handle it. After a couple of years, I coughed uncontrollably. I finally realized that I had two choices: I could either breathe, or I could smoke. I opted for breathing, and quit "cold turkey" the day I decided to do so.

I realize that this choice was easier for me than it is for many people. For one thing, I'd only been smoking for a couple of years, and I'd never liked the way it made my hair and clothes smell; I only liked the nicotine. Also, I really wanted to be able to take more than a shallow breath without having a fit of coughing. It took a few weeks, but my lungs cleared up and now I can breath just fine; I jog three times a week, and run annually in the local 3.1 mile Race for the Cure, which helps to fund breast cancer research.

I have experienced both the effects of first-hand and second-hand smoke. It is harmful. That's been proven time and time again. My own husband smokes. He knows how bad it is for him, but can't seem to give it up; he's tried to do so. He always smokes outside, though, keeping his fumes away from my son and me.

Should smoking be banned? Let's think about this. If you're an adult over the age of 21, and you choose to drink alcohol, you're allowed to do so - but there are laws against getting schnockered and then getting behind the wheel of a car, endangering the lives of others on the road. If I want to dance around wildly and flail my arms about, I am free to do so; but if I clobber an innocent bystander in the process, my flailing about could be considered assault. I think that smoking should fall under the same laws. While people should have the right to make their own choices, a smoker no more has the right to subject a child or a non-smoker to second-hand smoke than a drunk driver has the right to run over a pedestrian. The pedestrian will die sooner, but the smoke is just as lethal.

Having said that, I believe that smoking should be banned in restaurants and public places. If you want to smoke, find an open area and puff away - but don't put the rest of us at risk.

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