I was reading the Des Moines Register last week and I noticed an article about Iowa trying to pass some laws to ban smoking in all public places- including restaurants and bars. I know that other places in the United States have already put laws into effect to ban smoking in public places including California, many cities in Colorado and other scattered cities. In spite of all this, I wasn’t expecting Iowa to follow suit anytime soon. I was quite impressed. I have thought for a long time, actually, ever since California took the plunge on banning smoking, that other states would quickly follow. I suppose they are following, just very slowly. I have nothing against smokers – whatever blows your hair back – and I must admit that I have had an occasional smoke myself, but smoking has no place in public. Some people might argue that restaurants separate the smoking and non-smoking sections, but all that smoke that is lofting around has to go somewhere. Anyone who has ever been to Perkin’s at any hour of the night knows what I am talking about. You always reek of smoke when you get home. Although it is a good excuse to cover the fact that you were at a party earlier that night when you told your parents you went to a movie with the girls. Other than that, you just smell. Smokers might think they are hurting no one but themselves by smoking, but research shows how bad secondhand smoke is. Some people might even go as far to say it is worse for you than smoking cigarettes themselves. According to an article from the National Clearing House on Tobacco and Health, “Second-hand smoke contains over 4,000 different gasses, metals, and liquids. About 50 of which cause cancer.” When all that smoke is floating around bars and restaurants, it spreads out and settles on tables, chairs and any other surface anyone could touch and over time can cause cancer. According to a 1993 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, “passive (or second hand) smoke causes around 3,000 deaths a year from lung cancer alone.” This does not even include the other illnesses it might cause. A lesser, yet still serious problem secondhand smoke is attributed to is that it is the cause of thousands of children developing asthma every year they wouldn’t have had otherwise. It is also one of the biggest causes of respiratory infections in infants. Those facts dispute the argument that smokers might make that it is their right to smoke wherever and whenever they want to. If you are doing something that hurts another person or could possibly endanger the health of someone else, you shouldn’t do it. It’s just common courtesy. What people do with their own time with their own things is their business, but when it bothers other people, you should stop or go somewhere where you won’t bother anyone. I think one of the only factors that is keeping states and cities from going the extra step to stop smoking in restaurants and bars is the fear of losing customers who are smokers. This is especially true in bars, since beer and cigarettes go together like popcorn and pop. According to a survey conducted by the American Medical Association/ American Public Health Association, this speculation is not true. The survey found about two-thirds of people surveyed said ending smoking in restaurants and bars would have no impact on how frequently they patronize those establishments. It also reported that three in 10 people said they would dine out more often in smoke-free restaurants. The survey found that nearly 40 percent of people said they even avoid some places because of the cigarette smoke. One in five people said they would go to smoke-free bars more often. From the look of these results, it seems like bar and restaurant owners could stand to gain some business by going smoke-free. Since these results are only from a survey, it’s hard to see what would happen in a real-life situation. But a 1997 issue of The American Journal of Public Health showed no adverse economic impact of smoking bans in bars in California and restaurants in both Colorado and California. If anything at all, it was a positive effect. I think that if state legislators would look at all the statistics from California and Colorado, they would be more apt to take action. Maybe they could even make designated smoking and non-smoking bars. I know the day has to be coming, especially on the heels of all of the anti-smoking publicity that is all over lately. I just hope it is sooner rather than later.