Smoking is a well-documented risk factor for hypertension, lung

disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes and is a

leading cause of chronic disease and death worldwide. Still,
people choose to smoke.
Smoking in public places does not only affect the smoker
negatively. It also violates a non-smoker’s right to live a
healthy lifestyle. People who do not smoke, but are exposed to
secondhand smoke (it’s the combination of smoke from the burning
end of a cigarette and the smoke breathed out by smokers) experience
an increase in their risk of developing heart disease. Adults exposed
to secondhand smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have
newborns with lower birth weight, increasing the risk of health
complications. Infants exposed to secondhand smoke after birth
have significantly higher risk of Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome (SIDS). Therefore smoking should be banned in all
public places.
It is true that smokers have rights to smoke and these rights should
not be infringed upon. However, a non-smoker’s right to breathe clean
air and maintain a healthy lifestyle without breathing in second hand
smoke, should be protected as well. By disallowing smokers from
smoking in public, it will cause smokers to smoke less as they will have
to wait until they get home to light up a cigarette. This in turn
will benefit the smokers who have been trying to quit smoking because
it will help them reduce the frequency of smoking and break their
addiction to cigarettes. It’ll also discourage non-smokers from starting
to smoke at all.
Smoking in public portrays a bad example. Children are easily
influenced in their growing stages because they cannot differentiate
between right and wrong. Teenagers happen to think that smoking
makes a person “cool.” When they see adults doing it on the streets it
strengthens their belief in the “coolness” of smoking. If smoking is
banned in public areas, it will promote a healthier lifestyle for
everyone. By banning smoking in public areas the government may
send the message that the government is seriously concerned for the
well being of its citizens and that the government discourages people
from smoking.
Smokers generally throw their cigarette butts on the ground wherever
they are. These butts are detrimental to the environment because they
take a long time to decompose. They are harmful to birds and
other wildlife which nibble on or even swallow them. Discarded
cigarette butts also pollute the marine environment by leaching
chemicals such as cadmium, lead and arsenic into the stomachs
of fishes and other aquatic creatures . If the smoking ban is
enforced, the littering of these buds will no longer be an issue and the
environment will be cleaner and healthier for everyone.
Becoming 100 percent smoke-free starts with the political will to make
it happen. Only a smoke free legislation that bans smoking in all public
places, without exemptions, will fully protect nonsmokers, reduce
health inequalities, save money, and improve public health. The
banning of public smoking; prohibition of tobacco product promotion;
display of warnings on product packaging; and increasing product
prices and taxes have reduced the affordability and availability of
tobacco products to the general public. There is still a lot more that
needs to be done. In particular the Government should focus on
measures to shield children from tobacco industry marketing while
parents can do much more to protect children from exposure to
second-hand smoke. There is also an urgent need for suitable training
of health practitioners as it is anticipated that the number of patients
motivated to tobacco cessation may increase after Covid-19 pandemic .