Never Take Another PUFF!

I just got back from Puduraya, bought bus ticket for going back to my hometown, wheezing, sneezing, and short of breath. I will jump on my soapbox and tell you that I HATE smoking and secondhand smoke! I get bad allergies from it, and when I’m around it for more than a few hours, I inevitably get sick. I know smokers reading this hate me now.I have no comprehension why it is still legal to smoke in public. Yes, it’s my own fault for subjecting me to being around smokers, but it’s impossible to stay away completely. Unfortunately, I like sitting outside at Kopitiam on weekend but get bombarded with people smoking all around me. I don’t care if people smoke - as long as it’s done away from me.

Why do smokers get all the rights, and I have to suffer? Why is something that is proven to cause cancer to not only the smoker, but to people that breathing in the secondhand smoke, allowed?

So, what is secondhand smoke?

Secondhand smoke is also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) or passive smoke. It is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that comes from burning tobacco: side stream smoke: smoke that comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe, or cigar & mainstream smoke: smoke that is exhaled by a smoker When non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke it is called involuntary smoking or passive smoking. Non-smokers who breathe in secondhand smoke take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just like smokers do.

Why is secondhand smoke a problem?

1) It causes cancer

Secondhand smoke is classified as a "known human carcinogen" (cancer-causing agent) by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the US National Toxicology Program, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization. Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemical compounds. More than 60 of these are known or suspected to cause cancer.

2) Secondhand smoke causes other kinds of diseases and deaths

Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for:

• an estimated 35,000 deaths from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers
  about 3,000 lung cancer deaths in non-smoking adults
• other breathing problems in non-smokers, including coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function
• 150,000 to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations annually
• increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma
• more than 750,000 middle ear infections in children
• Pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke are also at increased risk of having low birth weight babies

3) Secondhand smoke may be linked to breast cancer

An issue that is still being studied is whether secondhand smoke may increase the risk of breast cancer. Both mainstream and secondhand smoke contain about 20 chemicals that, in high concentrations, cause breast cancer in rodents. And we know that in humans, chemicals from tobacco smoke reach breast tissue and are found in breast milk. Any link between secondhand smoke and breast cancer risk in human studies is still being debated. This is partly because breast cancer risk has not been shown to be increased in active smokers. One possible explanation for this is that tobacco smoke may have different effects on breast cancer risk in smokers and in those who are exposed to secondhand smoke.

4) Secondhand smoke kills children and adults who don't smoke, and makes others sick (Surgeon General's report)

The 2006 US Surgeon General's report reached some important conclusions:

• Secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in children and in adults who do not smoke.
• Children exposed to secondhand smoke are at an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more severe asthma. Smoking by parents causes breathing (respiratory) symptoms and slows lung growth in their children.
• Secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood circulation in a harmful way. Over a longer time it also causes heart disease and lung cancer.
• The scientific evidence shows that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Many millions of Americans, both children and adults, are still exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes and workplaces despite a great deal of progress in tobacco contro

5) Effects our personality

Unfortunately, secondhand smoke is also really bad for your skin. I’m sure the occasional puff of smoke I inhale outside at the restaurants (before I get up and flee) is no big deal, but if you work in a smoking environment, or live with a smoker, it’s really going to negatively impact your skin by accelerating wrinkles, loss of elasticity, and sagging. Secondhand smoke can also cause hair loss.

Smoking is beginning to interfere with all aspects of the smoker's life, and every smoker must now ask him or herself the same question, "Is smoking worth it?"

If you do think so, then - i know that u...UNDERSTAND - BUT DON'T CARE

If you don't think so, then - NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

For additional reading; http://environment.about.com/b/