In response to Nicole Northcutt’s Oct. 24 letter to the editor, “Smoking ban necessary to avoid health risks.”
Nicole Northcutt cited a statistic that stated nearly 50,000 non-smokers die a year due to smoke exposure. This statistic fails to mention college students, campuses or how the exposure occurred. It fails to mention any demographic whatsoever besides non-smokers, which is significantly greater in population than smokers. To me, that means this statistic is also entirely irrelevant in a discussion regarding campus health and smoking.
As such, I began to wonder how so many non-smokers could be harmed by secondhand smoke. I found a great article where the chief medical officer of cancer at the American Cancer Society answers the question, “Is secondhand smoke really that risky?”
In fact, he mentions a similar statistic to the one Northcutt provided in her letter, but goes on to clarify what demographics are being affected. He concludes that secondhand smoke affects children in homes with smoker parents, smoker/non-smoker spouse combinations and when smoking was allowed in the workplace. At no point does he ever regard the chance of ailment from secondhand smoke affecting someone outdoors.
People smoke their entire lives and die of unrelated causes. People smoke for years, quit, rehabilitate and are nearly able to restore their lungs to full capacity. To believe that the offhand chance of inhaling secondhand smoke outside is extremely toxic is simply not true.
I pose a challenge to all those in favor of this ban. Find someone who has been severely, negatively impacted by secondhand smoke on any ASU campus. Furthermore, the ban also includes chewing tobacco, something that has no way of affecting someone other than the user. This ban is simply an attempt to appeal to adamant non-smokers who are clearly over-offended by the smell of smoke. I don't smoke.
Arthur Nemirovskiy
Undergraduate
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