Shoud Smoking in Public Areas be Banned - Essay Example

Public health is serious social concern that cannot be left to the discretion of those who are endangering personal health relentlessly. Smoking is a personal choice and despite its known negative effects on human health there is no restrictive legislation to ensure this personal freedom of choice. However, equally important are the liberties to of a non-smoker who does not want to put his health at risk. Everyone has a right to make choices that he likes baring those choices that can affect the same right of others.

Smoking in public areas is a sort of abusing non-smokers’ right to safeguard their health and this is something that should not be permissible legally and morally. Smoking in open public areas is often defended by the argument that in first place it does not harm others because of open and fresh air, secondly they are free to move away from smoking site. It is rather a ridiculous argument to support smoking. Smokers cannot be allowed to pollute air at a public place only because there is a lot of fresh air and people can move around.

Smoking in open and enclosed public area should not be treated separately because open public areas are mostly used to get fresh air and soothing environment. However, we can introduce separation areas for smoker at public places to ensure they have equal right to enjoy themselves. “Recent research conducted by the Office of the National Statistics (ONS) found that 63% of respondents considered that there should be smoking and non-smoking areas in pubs and bars” (Health Committee, 2006) It should be clear that the ban we are talking about is not absolute in nature and we have to have exceptions in this ban.

Public areas are either open or enclosed and the ban should introduce exceptions in both cases separately. Most of the countries have implemented a strict ban in enclosed public area whereas a lenient approach is adopted for open public areas. Various states have their own perception in this regard and have implemented the ban with varying depth and exceptions. Molyneaux (2006) has pointed out this approach, “Smoking is banned in all or most enclosed public places in South Africa, New Zealand, Italy and the Republic of Ireland.

There are similar bans in the American states of California and New York. Smoking in enclosed public places was recently banned in Scotland. It will become illegal in the rest of the UK in 2007. In England and Wales, pubs that do not serve food can continue to choose to allow smoking.” Though smoking is equally dangerous and hazardous for all nations but the realization at public and state level is not same. International organizations like WHO are working extensively on issues pertaining to public health and can play an important role in educating masses on the issue.

The argument that secondhand smoke does not have clear links to the diseases attributed to smokers is not a valid argument because World health Organization has rejected this argument. Chen (2007) has pointed out this clearly, "The evidence is clear there is no safe level of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke." This underlines the importance of the issue and we need persuade and convince public and authorities that the legislation to ban smoking in public areas is an imperative requirement to ensure public health and safety at large.

We need to focus our attentions in this area of public health because lack of awareness in this area is alarming as WHO (2009) pointed out