rt should be the least of their worries. Cigarette smoke carries carcinogens and other harmful substances. " Many of these substances are poisons: tar, nicotine, carbon monoxide, arsenic, cyanide, and other deadly aubatances. Anyone exposed to secondhand smoke breathes in over four thousand chemical substances. Secondhand smoke kills 53,000 Americans each year. It is the third largest preventable cause of death . Only direct smoking and alcohol-related deaths rank higher,"(Rumph 20). To demonstrate that nonsmokers are affected by the smoke, a study was done by the Americans for non Smokers' Rights Foundation on children living in homes with parents who smoke. The study was compared with children living in homes with no smoking. The children living with smokers, had a ten percent lower amount of high density lipoprotein, which prevent against heart disease, as compared to children in non-smoking homes, (Rumph 20). Also, " girls with parents who smoke have a lower ability to carry oxygen in the blood, while boys had a lower testosterone level than children living in non-smoking homes," (Houston 121). Although some progress has been made to reduce secondhand smoke in public places, it is not enough. There are no laws to protect people on the street or innocent children in their homes. The only way to protect innocent non-smokers is to ban the sale of cigarettes, so there would be no second-hand smike at all. Cigarettes are harmful to everyone. They result in addiction, fatal illnesses, birth complications, and death. Cigarettes create economic problems because of the high costs the government must pay for medical bills. cigarettes benefit no one, they only cause harm. ...
