The Benefits Of A Smoking Ban

The benefits of a smoking ban are widely debated now as more and more countries institute a ban on smoking in workplaces. Of course this does not only mean offices and factories, but any indoor place where people work, including airports, malls, coffee shops and bars. Here we consider the benefits to both non-smokers and smokers.

Benefits for Non-Smokers

The benefits for non-smokers of this type of ban are very clear. They get to escape the second hand smoke that used to be present in all of these places, affecting their comfort and their health.

Many non-smokers have always hated that the day after an evening spent in a smoky nightclub and bar, their hair would smell and their clothes would require cleaning. In addition, during the evening a non-smoker in a smoky place may suffer from irritated eyes, a cough, and possibly shortness of breath and asthma. In the past these were seen as disadvantages that non-smokers had to accept if they wanted to spend an evening out with their friends. Now, this is no longer true.

The greatest benefit must be for non-smokers working in these places. Formerly they had to work all day or all evening breathing in tobacco smoke, year after year. Now they are completely free of that.

Benefits For Everybody

Apart from questions of health, the ban benefits everybody in reducing the risk of fire. A large number of fires are started by cigarettes that have not been properly extinguished. Fires in nightclubs and on public transit systems are much less likely if this type of ban is in place.

Does The Ban Benefit Smokers?

The argument for the ban in relation to smokers is that it will help them smoke less or quit, and so even though they may not like it, it is better for them.

Smokers are usually skeptical about arguments like this which remind them of many they have heard before. For example, the high taxes on tobacco products in many countries were supposed to help smokers quit, but generally they don't. Very few people give up smoking because of the cost. They are much more likely to give up something else that is not addictive, so they can afford to keep on smoking.

The ban, however, works in a different way because in most cases it does break the habit of smoking in certain circumstances. A guy who always liked to smoke with a beer will certainly smoke less if he has to leave his friends and go outside in the rain every time he wants to light a cigarette. So the habit of always having a cigarette with a beer is broken.

The ban also means that it is easier for a smoker who is trying to quit, to stay quitted. Most smokers do want to quit. One of the most dangerous times for a recently stopped smoker is when they go out and have a few drinks in a situation where other people are smoking. Their will power is lower because they are a little drunk, and they are seeing and smelling people smoking all around them. Take away the temptation and it is much easier for them to get through the evening without having a cigarette.

It seems very likely that the ban will help smokers to smoke less and to quit. It also helps to change the image of smoking, from something that every cool person did 50 years ago, to something that only a few pitiful addicts do. The tide of social pressure has definitely turned toward non-smoking in most Western countries, and this probably helps more smokers to quit than any other consideration, even their health.