The Great American Smokeout
One of the “progressive” stances many local and state governments are taking is banning smoking in public places. That is to say the government is implementing public policy, and even criminal laws, that prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public areas. At first glance, this approach appears to have the benefit of reducing the risk of cancer from secondhand smoke (often referred to as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS); however, a closer analysis shows that this isn’t only false, but in fact intentionally misleading.
The Environment Protection Agency published a report in December of 1992 that claimed that ETS caused 3,000 deaths per year. It was this initial report that spurred the first wave of smoking bans. It had classified ETS as a Class A carcinogen and dealt all but a deathblow to the issue.