Smoking Ban Tobacco smoke should certainly be considered a toxic chemical, and its risks to human health have been well-known for decades. Any reasonable person -- or indeed anyone who is even slightly familiar with the medical and scientific evidence -- would certainly know this today. Forty years ago, the federal government banned tobacco advertising from radio and television and put warning labels on tobacco products, while class action lawsuits have

Some states like New York and California have banned smoking in bars and restaurants and in outdoor public places such as parks (Harris, 2012). That also makes a lot of sense because when customers sit next to smokers, they have no choice but to inhale their smoke. Various smokers' rights groups have objected to these types of bans and complained that their rights are being interfered with (Harris, 2012). It

Refutation of Counterargument: James Repace, is a former senior science policy analyst who worked at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for 19 years and as a research physicist at the Naval Research Laboratory for 11 years. According to Repace, OSHA first proposed regulating secondhand smoke as a workplace hazard after determining that it caused as many as 14,000 worker deaths annually, far surpassing any other toxic

Bar and restaurant owners also contend they have the right to set the terms of their employment, and to create a particular atmosphere in their restaurants -- including a sophisticated or seedy image that allows for smoking. However, foot traffic at restaurants and bars actually rose after the ban went into effect (Rutenberg & Koppel 2005, p.1). Even one smoker admitted he was converted to a non-smoking atmosphere, saying now:

BANS ON SMOKING IN AMERICAN CITIES: NEW YORK CITY & LOS ANGELES Public Health Moving with unexpected swiftness, New York state lawmakers passed a sweeping anti-smoking measure that makes New York the third state after California and Delaware to ban smoking in all workplaces, including restaurants, bars, and hotels. Within hours of the New York bill's passage, Governor George E. Pataki signed the tough measure, which exempts only America-Indian-owned casinos, cigar bars

Banning Smoking in Cars With Children: Moral and Legal Issues Five states in America, Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Maine and Oregon, and also Puerto Rico -- have made it a crime to smoke in cars when children are there, and more states are considering the adoption of this legislation as well. For instance, other nations such as Canada, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates are also leaning towards such a ban.