"According to the CDC, secondhand smoke kills 3,000 people a year from lung cancer, and as many as 35,000 a year from heart disease. Many hospitality workers inhale the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes a day according to the coalition Washington BREATHE, who's members include the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association and the American Lung Association (Buchanan)
In April 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a warning to those "at risk of heart disease to avoid all buildings and gathering places that allow indoor smoking. The CDC disclosed the advisory, saying doctors need to warn people with heart problems that secondhand smoke can significantly increase their risk of heart attack (Kaufman)
There is currently political pressure on other cities, such as Atlanta and Seattle, to enact their own bans. While Atlanta officials are concerned with possible economic setbacks from smokers who choose to vacation elsewhere, healthcare issues override these concerns, and are a major incentive to become smoke-free (Tagami)
Shortly after, Cowles was diagnosed with lung cancer and emphysema. Surgeons removed the growth in his lungs but to this day, Cowles confesses to having difficulty breathing (Cowles)
The effect secondhand smoke has on pregnant women is also well documented. In this case, pregnant women exposed to this kind of cigarette smoke have their chances of delivering babies with low birth weight increased by 20% (Hanson, Venturelli and Fleckenstein 342)
There are several reasons for the need to ban public smoking regardless of the ongoing debate on whether such a measure infringes the right of smokers to smoke whenever they want. First, public smoking should be banned because it exposes non-smokers to severe negative health consequences since smoking in public areas not only affect smokers themselves but also has considerable health effects on non-smokers (Rutherford par, 2)