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Reasons Why Smoking Bans Are Good

When it comes to smoking, there are no arguments to defend the health risks involved. As long as public smoking is permitted in any form, these risks also exist for non-smokers. While smoking is already off-limits in certain buildings and places of business, instituting a more widespread ban offers a number of advantages in the battle against smoking.

  1. Less Secondhand Smoke

    • Secondhand smoke is particularly frustrating for non-smokers, who take efforts to protect themselves from the health hazards of smoking only to get assaulted by it in public from the cigarettes of others. This threat applies to everyone, including children. Additionally, those who are trying to quit smoking might find it harder to fight temptation in environments filled with secondhand smoke. A public smoking ban eliminates the issue of non-smokers having to contend with the smoke of others.

    Better Public Health

    • According to a 2008 Wall Street Journal article, studies conducted in Scotland determined that hospital admissions for heart attacks and other coronary problems dropped 17 percent one year after a widespread smoking ban took effect. Researchers also discovered that nonsmokers admitted for these causes had lower levels of cotinine, a byproduct that results when nicotine becomes processed in the body. This indicates that secondhand smoke played a larger role in the reasons behind coronary issues before the ban went into effect.

    Encourages Smokers to Stop

    • Proponents of public smoking bans believe that the harder it is for smokers to smoke, the more likely they are to cut back on their unhealthy habit or even give it up altogether. While some smokers are too addicted to the nicotine to simply quit because of a ban, others might only smoke in social settings. According to a Wisconsin-based study conducted in 2002, half of all light smokers (five or fewer cigarettes a day) smoked for social reasons, and 16 percent of light smokers say they smoke mainly for social reasons. Eliminating public smoking gives these smokers one more reason to stay away from cigarettes entirely.

    Sets an Example for Youth

    • Young people grow up knowing that while smoking is bad, it's not illegal as long as you are of legal age to purchase cigarettes. Furthermore, they are often surrounded by people smoking in public places their entire lives and grow accustomed to the idea. Banning smoking in public helps to illustrate the point that not only is smoking bad for your health, it's not even allowed outside of private locations. This reinforces the importance of staying away from smoking.

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