Should it be called murder? Should it be called child abuse? What should it be called when someone dies because of someone else's actions?

I took care of her in the hospital as she was gasping for air. She has an illness that people who smoke get. She has emphysema. She never smoked, not even one cigarette, yet, here she was fighting for each and every breath. Both her mother and father smoked. When she got married, her spouse smoked. Who is paying for their addiction? She is. She died on a morphine drip so she wouldn't be struggling for her last breath.

Exaggeration? Overly dramatic? Not at all. This is a true story. I am a Respiratory Therapist. Everyday that I go to work I deal with the effects of smoking. Most of the time the person is the smoker,however, sometimes tragically, the person is the victim of people who just didn't know, didn't believe, or just plain didn't care that they were smoking around someone that they were passively killing.

My mother-in-law is also a victim of second hand smoke. She has never smoked and yet she is dying from cancer.

Are the dangers of second hand smoke real? You bet they are. They can be avoided by a little self control and a little caring by the smoker. Don't be the one to cause your loved one to have lung disease due to second hand smoke.

Learn more about this author, Renee Dawson.
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