Research Memo #2

Secondhand smoke is harmful to people of all ages and you can inhale it anywhere you are. Second hand smoke is a large problem in homes, cars, public places, and at work. You may not live with a smoker, but you are vulnerable to breathing it in almost anywhere you are. Secondhand smoke is worse than first hand smoke. You may think with firsthand you get all the chemicals and nicotine straight into your lungs, but they have a filter on the cigarette taking some of the chemicals out. When someone breaths in the smoke from the cigarette they have no filter all of the chemicals are in the smoke and get into there lungs.

The smoke that is inhaled from a cigarette directly into the lungs is far more concentrated than the diluted smoke from a burning cigarette or a smoker's exhalation. The EPA uses distorted evidence to stretch a policy that affects everyone rather than a limited population of smokers. In March UCLA did a survey and found that 78% of people believed that secondhand smoke was “very” or “somewhat” harmful. So if people know that it is harmful why are there still so many smokers that smoke around there children and just light up a cigarette wherever they are? UCLA also estimated that non-smokers, that live with someone who smokes, inhales smoke equivalent to a few cigarettes a year. This is saying even though you don’t smoke cigarettes by inhaling smoke you are basically smoking a little bit yourself. Adult smokers has dropped from 40% of people to about 25% now, that’s about 50,000,000 people, but Americans are still   smoking and harming everyone around them.

Secondhand smoke has never been something that people typically enjoy, and the dangers of breathing in secondhand smoke have gotten more attention over the years. By researching secondhand smoke it truly helps explain just how dangerous this threat is, if you’re a smoker, you should consider putting down that pack for good, if not just for you, then for those around you.

Smoking is harmful in its self, but by smoking around other people you are harming more than just yourself. Most people don’t actually realize the affects of secondhand smoke. I now plan on looking up more statistics on smoking and putting them out to my classmates so that they know how it harms them. They can take it and show it to people and the word will get spread around about how secondhand smoke directly affects every single one of us.