Bans on Smoking around the World
Smoking Bans
Smoking bans are in place in various locations around the world to stop people from smoking indoors in public places. In certain locations, smoking is even banned within the vicinity of a building, so that non smokers do not have to walk through clouds of smoke in order to enter a building. Smoking bans are put in place for the health and safety of people that do not smoke. For example, a person who works in a bar may suffer from ill health due to regularly passive smoking, even though the employee himself may be a non smoker.
The risks of passive smoking include heart disease, lung cancer and other diseases of the respiratory tract. Most people would agree that it is morally wrong for a none smoker to risk their health because of second hand smoke.
Smoking may also be banned for other safety reasons, for example, where there is a risk of fire or explosion.
Where is smoking banned?
Some states of the USA have total smoking bans in public places, including Arizona, California and New York. However, other states such as North Carolina do not have a blanket ban. In a country so influenced by litigation, it is surprising that the law on smoking is governed at state level, and not by the federal government. Around 50% of non smoking Americans may be subjected to passive smoking due to the inadequate or absent smoking bans.
In the EU, smoking is banned in public places in Ireland, the UK, Denmark and Sweden. Similar bans are soon to be introduced in other countries including Holland and France. Again, with the EU keen to legislate on the ingredients of a sausage, they have not seen fit to impose an EU wide ban on smoking in public places and many EU citizens will die as a result of this omission.
In the rest of the world, other countries that have imposed smoking bans include Brazil, Canada (in most provinces with federal law to follow), Iceland, Israel, Kazakhstan and Uruguay.
Arguments against the introduction of smoking bans
Arguments against the introduction of blanket smoking bans include the following:
- It is an infringement of a smoker's right to smoke.
- Smoking bans can cause economic losses to businesses including bars, night clubs, and especially in the UK, bingo halls.
- Suggestions that passive smoking is not harmful (this has been scientifically disproven)
- Loss of revenue to governments through taxation of tobacco products.
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