Orignial topic - adopting a positive or negative viewpoint Essay - 2

Orignial topic - adopting a positive or negative viewpoint - Essay Example auses major health problems, is more dangerous for the non-smoker than smoking is for the smoker, is most dangerous for children and is an infringement on rights, the right to live. The definition of secondhand smoke is smoke that a person inhales due to someone else’s who is smoking close to them. While some disagree and say that the hazard from second-hand smoke is negligible, others have identified numerous properties of secondhand smoke that make it more than obvious this type of smoke is even more powerful and therefore more harmful than the smoke the smoker themselves is inhaling into their own lungs. When a smoker inhales through a cigarette filter they are getting only about half of the poisons tar and nicotine that are found in a comparable sized amount of secondhand smoke according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Despite the fact they are non-smokers, this same report states that roughly â€Å"3,000 non-smokers a year die from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke† and another â€Å"37,000 non-smokers a year die from heart disease attributed to secondhand smoke† (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1992). These figures are verified by other data of the detrimental effects of secondhand smoke, for example, a study demonstrated that women who did not smoke that were married to heavy smoking men suffered twice the risk of developing lung cancer as compared to women married to non-smoking men. Another study performed on workers such as waitresses and bartenders who are repeatedly exposed for an extended period of time to secondhand smoke experienced a 25-75 percent greater possibility of contracting lung cancer, with the odds becoming proportionately higher with the time employed in these types of places. These are studies on adult lungs. Imagine the damage done to smaller, weaker and less developed more susceptible lungs. â€Å"Children exposed to high levels of secondhand smoke are susceptible to greater instances of bronchitis, pneumonia