FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY

SMOKING SHOULD BE BANNED IN PUBLIC PLACES

Nowadays, while medicine is moving forward really quickly in several areas as
cancer, there are some medical studies which have shown and proved that
smoking is not only bad for smokers, but also for people close by them. Because of
that, in several countries it has begun a costume to ban smoking in public places
such as in bars, restaurants, discos, shopping malls, and so on... There are
arguments on both sides, which are really interesting to comment on.
On the one hand, opponents to this kind of law argue that the fact of banning
smoking in public places as restaurants, bars or pubs leads to the possibility of
losing customers and make the bar to have economic losses. However, in Spain,
where actually used to plan this argument, it has been proved over time that people
dont give up going to bars, restaurants or pubs for this reason and they just go
outside to the street whether they want to smoke. In any case they defend the fact
of adapting areas for smokers or non-smokers. However, it represents an economic
cost which cant be afford in period of crisis
Nevertheless, there are more convincing arguments in favour of banning smoking
in public places. Nowadays, it has been proved that tobacco is made of
carcinogenic compounds which cause serious health problems not only for the
smoker but people staying around them. They are known as the passive
smokers, people staying or working and sharing the same air with smokers, for
example waiters. It has been proved that lots of waiters have developed respiratory
problems such as cancers because of the air they used to breathe while working so
many years.
In conclusion, it is clear that it should be illegal to smoke in public places in order
not to disturb non-smokers, in order to improve the health of thousands of people
and to reduce in a future the costs of treatment for smokers cancer patients in the
public health system.