As any well-informed Illinois citizen will already be aware, January marks the one-year anniversary of our status as a “smoke-free state.” Now, if you also happen to be a well-informed American (a title a bit harder to come upon,) you will also know that a total of 23 states and commonwealths across the country have set in place similar restrictions with regards to smoking in public including New York, Florida and Maryland. The complete list is available (along with plenty more valuable non-smoking info) at no-smoke.org. These standards have been put into effect in order to create a healthier, cleaner environment for the non-smoking public. The ban extends outdoors, too. In the city of Chicago, lit cigarettes are not allowed within 15 feet of any non-residential establishment. This is only a taste of the new non-smoking world that is being constructed around us. The world at large is even stepping up and banning public smoking- Europe being at the head of this front.
The recent developments in second-hand smoke safety are nothing short of triumphant. Only 25 years ago not only was it acceptable to smoke in the smoking section of any restaurant or bar, but also on airplanes, buses, trains, coffee houses, department stores, cubicles and offices, movie theatres, banks and even in classrooms. The result has been unheard of levels of asthma, emphysema, lung cancer, heart disease and stinky overcoats. These are all diseases (or, in the case of the latter, states of moderate discomfort) that can kill (or just annoy) people and are caused by the presence of second-hand smoke in areas where non-smokers spend time. Is it the fault of the non-smokers? Certainly not. Being that the smoker is voluntarily creating a harmful environment for his or herself, they also create a harmful environment for those around them. We all need to share spaces. Everyone has to work, many of us have to use public transportation, we all enjoy eating out… everyone ventures outdoors every now and then! We all have the right to exist in a clean and healthy world.
However, not all these tactics set in place are effective. I’m sure many of you have come across a “truth” ad in your time. The “truth” ads utilize fear tactics and attack the wrong evils. They always go after the tobacco companies, calling them “big tobacco.” True, these companies employ questionable marketing and advertising tactics, such as the one they are most noted for- marketing tobacco to minors. This is certainly an evil practice and should be addressed. However, it is not the real enemy, here. The enemy is nicotine, the drug that is found in tobacco smoke that gives smoking its lure. I cannot think of a single person that started smoking because they thought that the ads were nifty or the slogans were catchy. “Big tobacco” would have nothing to market in the first place if smokers stood to gain nothing from making that (relatively inflated) purchase of a pack of cigarettes. But as it is (and always will be as nature dictates), the tobacco leaf, when smoked or chewed, produces the chemical nicotine and releases it into the bloodstream of its consumer. As long as the product is available to be produced and creates the insanely large income for producers, someone is going to produce it. There is no stopping tobacco companies as long as it is legal. Nicotine is powerful. I can’t say for certain if any people reading this have seen the commercial for one of the many “stop smoking” aides out there that depicts a nicotine craving as a horde of angry little monsters buzzing around inside your head and, when satiated, all settling down and going to sleep. Whoever came up with that really understood a nicotine addiction. Notice that I said nicotine addiction as opposed to cigarette addiction. There needs to be a distinction that will help many people understand why smokers exist. I reiterate that a cigarette is merely the vehicle for nicotine to enter the body- the cancerous, dangerous, filthy and smelly vehicle (not dissimilar to my high school car…). However, despite all these facts that often make ad campaigns such as “truth” somewhat obsolete in my mind, they do not miss the point entirely. The real goal of the groups that fund these outfits is to get information out into the world about the real dangers of both first and second-hand smoke, and the evidence of the presence of that knowledge in the world is readily apparent.
I believe that the world is, however marginally, healthier thanks to the efforts of our government to lawfully prevent public smoking. With all these new fronts being set in motion I think that if nothing else, the youth of our nation are getting the message. Many adolescents think of smoking as “uncool” and understand, better than any other generation, the dangers of the nicotine-infused lifestyle. With all this knowledge in hand, I believe we are closer than ever to the reality of a 100% smoke-free world.