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FREEDOM TO BREATHE!

I have smoked for years, and I say ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Waving a gun around in a public place is illegal. Driving drunk is illegal. Why? Because these things are dangerous and may kill people. For the very same reason, smoking should not be allowed in public places.

If I smoke, I have decided to throw caution to the wind and put my life at risk. I know all the facts. I am addicted to a disgusting habit, and while I strive to quit, I often smoke. However - I have absolutely NO RIGHT to inflict this KNOWN health hazard on other people. My son has never seen me smoke - I have never smoked in my house, even when he is away at summer camp. It's not that hard.

I go out of my way to smoke where other people will not be - my backyard away from the door - around the side of a building... It's really not that hard. Just because I'm jumping out of the plane without a parachute doesn't mean I should drag someone else with me, right?

It makes me sick to see people smoking in front of children. Children depend on adults for their protection. They don't have the freedom to remove themselves from smoking environments. If a child's parents or guardians have decided to endanger their lives by exposing them to a smoking environment - the poor kid is stuck. He may die in thirty years from second hand benzene or formaldehyde exposure - the poor kid didn't stand a chance.

In some places, smoking is illegal around children and places children will occupy. I also think smoking should be illegal if you are pregnant. (I am pro-choice by the way - but if you've decided to carry the child, why torture, injure or kill it with cigarette chemicals?) Smoking anywhere your child may be exposed to your smoke, or allowing your child to be exposed to smoke is CHILD ENDANGERMENT straight and simple. Not cool, folks!

I am fortunate enough to live in a city where smoking in public places is outlawed. While it sucks to stand in the freezing cold and sleet to get my fix - I've brought it on myself. Why should I endanger someone out getting groceries, or riding public transportation? Why should some poor sap, just making a living have to put up with my smoke in their place of work?

Any idiot who says to workers in public places "well, they CHOSE that job" frankly needs a smack in the head. I say "fair enough, you smoke in their restaurant, cab, bus, theater, night-club, and then let them come to YOUR work and spray arsenic into your breathing zone - because that is what you think is okay to do to other workers!" Tit for Tat buck-oh!

I shake my head at the ignorance of the hard-core "screw 'em, I can smoke anywhere I want - it's a FREE COUNTRY" smoker. To that I say, yes! It IS a free country. You should not have the right to NEGATE FREE WILL, by inflicting your unhealthy life-style choices on other people! People should be FREE to choose to live in a healthy manner. In order to do so, laws have to be in place to protect the health of the public.

Learn more about this author, Susan Huizinga.
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