No Smoking in Public Areas!

Have you ever been in a restaurant, enjoying a wonderful meal, and then suddenly you start to smell smoke? Would this ruin your appetite? Some would say yes while others state the smell of smoke does not bother them. This topic has become a heated subject upon many citizens in Memphis, TN. Over the past years there has been regulations prohibiting the use of smoking in public areas in Memphis. In some cases owners are allowed to let smokers smoke in their venue but they must also accompany the non-smokers. Smoking in public areas should not be prohibited at all. It should not be left up to business owners to allow smokers to smoke in their venue. While in a restaurant, I for one, hate the smell of tobacco. At that point I am no longer able to enjoy my dining experience because the smell is unpleasantly horrible. Almost every restaurant I have visited, which served smokers and non-smokers, one could still smell the smoke in the non-smoking section. So to section off sides in one building of smokers and non-smokers was proven not to be an effective solution. Any tobacco smoke smells seems to linger in all directions. So after leaving a restaurant, even while sitting in a non-smokers section, one can still detect smoke smells on their clothes and other personal belongings. Not only is the smell of smoke an unpleasant smell but smoking any form of tobacco also releases contaminants into the air. According to epigee.org, it states "there are more than 4,000 chemical compounds which are created just by burning a cigarette. " Cigarettes are composed of many harmful ingredients. There are even some ingredients which are not supposed to be processes into our body. Epigee.org also states, "there are three main ingredients in cigarettes." Cigarettes contain nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide. While smoking the smoker and anyone around them will inhale these toxic fumes into their body. One of the ingredients nicotine is what makes the smoker addicted. Cigarette companies single-handily placed nicotine in cigarettes because they know once one becomes addicted to their product it will be hard to withdraw from that addictive drug. Another harmful but main component of cigarettes is tar. Tar is a substance which damages one's respiratory system. While tar and nicotine are both destructive components of cigarettes; "carbon monoxide is a poisonous chemical found in car exhaust fumes. " After hearing about all the dangerous ingredients which one invite into their body, one should be aware of non-smokers who do not want to be exposed to these harmful ingredients. Cigarette smoke is so harmful, it could give someone second-hand smoke. Exposure to smoke could lead someone to diseases , disability, and even smoke. Image the doctor coming to you to report which you have second-hand smoke and it could possibly result to death! How would you feel? One can image that one would feel deeply upset to know that just because of their exposure to smoke they have now contracted a disease. Second-hand smoke is bad for anyone's health. According to smoking.ygoy.com, statistics show that "21% of adults in America smoke cigarettes." "Second-hand smoke is a proven health risk as it is one of the major causes of heart disease, and lung cancer in non-smoking adults exposed in cigarette smoke," stated on www.smoking.ygoy.com. The website also cited, "In children it is the major cause of respiratory infections and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)." Second-hand smoke kills numerous amounts of people a day and counting. Although there are only 45 million smokers in the United States, 126 million non-smokers are exposed to second-hand smoke. This will continue to happen if one permits for smokers the privilege of public smoking again. Even if it is considered okay to infuse their body with chemicals, from cigarettes, it should not give them an opportunity to possibly harm someone else. The regulations for smokers prohibited to smoke in public places should stand and continue to. There should be no further discussion about this topic because it shows so many constructive purposes for smoking not be permitted in public places. I'm sure smokers will not enjoy the fact which they cannot smoke whenever they feel the urge, but it should matter to them that they could possibly be affecting somebody's life and not even know it.