re: #126 Dreggas

(Disclaimer: I smoke and plan to quit)

Secondhand smoke is bad, I have little doubt of that, I just find it hard to believe that there are that many people dying as a result of exposure to second hand smoke unless they are non-smokers exposed to it constantly. If that’s the case then I could believe it, however they have hyped it to the point where you smoking one cig around a non-smoker will kill the non-smoker. Some of the anti-tobacco ads have gone over the top.

For example, here in CA they run one of someone smoking a cig then cut to a kid with asthma taking a hit off an inhaler. If the kid is exposed to second hand smoke all the time I could see it but asthma is caused by many other factors such as being in an area with lots of air pollution, such as a city.

I don’t deny that smoking is bad and second hand smoke poses risks I just don’t believe that SHS is the root cause of all of these deaths. They are using estimates as it is, not even real data.

I know 2 people who died of lung cancer who didn’t smoke. Parents of my friends. One, at least, had a spouse that smoked so my friend assumed it was secondhand smoke, but not sure.

It’s possible to die of lung cancer if you don’t smoke, but if you do, the risk goes up like 85%. And then there’s heart disease, blood disease, all kinds of nasty stuff.

Don’t make excuses smokers. Really.