Second-hand smoke: How harmful?? (allergies, blood, smoking, cancer)

[yhwhshalomjr]

Second-hand smoke: How harmful??
What's your take on second-hand smoke and smokers?
How many people do you think are actually affected by this?

[triton1]

Originally Posted by yhwhshalomjr

Second-hand smoke: How harmful??
What's your take on second-hand smoke and smokers?
How many people do you think are actually affected by this?

it's very harmful and I do not like the smell of it. To make matters worse, my own parents smoke (and my mother started smoking when she was 12 YEARS OLD!!!). They do a lot for me when i ask them to, but one request from me that they have NOT followed is my request for them to stop smoking. one thing i was able to get them to do is to smoke outside the house instead of inside. Indeed, second hand smoke, the smoke that pours into the air from the burning tip of the cigarette, can be about as harmful to you as it is to the smoker. And not to mention, on my list of odors, the odor that is most offensive to me is cigar and pipe smoke (phew!!!)

[yhwhshalomjr]

Sorry to hear about that;
Well at least they are now smoking outside, but as you mentioned the odor, my neighbors downstairs have what seems like smoke parties(heavy smokers) and it's about four of them, so the smell gets into my clothes and carpet, Yuck!!!
I have to open all of the windows and I have a high speed fan to blow the stale air out on days when it's cool. But most times my eyes and throat are inflammed with allergies. I'm thinking about moving because of this even though I like my location and they are good neighbors... Isn't this an awful situation to be in. So i understand.

[SandyCo]

Second hand smoke? Yuck. I'll never forget how my mother used to smoke - 4 packs a day, and she'd light one cigarette with the butt of the smoked one! She would even smoke while she was eating.

The worst, though, was riding with her in a car. If it was below 80 degrees, she'd turn the heat all the way up, still smoking incessantly, and then she'd complain if I tried to open my window! I felt like I was going to choke to death.

I have no idea how harmful it actually is. After seeing both my parents smoke, I was never even tempted to try it myself, but who knows what kind of damage they may have done while I was growing up? Time will tell... but then again, I also live in the smoggiest metropolitan area in the entire country!

[Earniefan]

I can't stand being at a stop light and suddenly getting a whiff of that nasty smell, and then realizing it's coming from the car in front of me. Or when I have all the windows open in my house and my neighbor goes out to sit on her patio to read a book and smoke a pack in one sitting and it comes wafting right in my kitchen window, I feel like turning the hose on her. I was once guilty of this nasty habit, fortunately I quit 11 years ago. I can't believe I ever did something so stupid. My friends think I'm nuts when I say that when my kids become teenagers I'd rather find out they're smoking pot than cigarettes. It's alot easier to stop smoking pot than cigarettes.

[jeannie216]

I believe the harm from second-hand smoke comes from the fact that the smoke you inhale from another is not filtered, so the damage could actually be worse than the damage the smoker's getting. I have asthma, both my parents smoked and I'm convinced that was a contributing factor. Jeannie

[NewToCA]

Originally Posted by yhwhshalomjr

Second-hand smoke: How harmful??
What's your take on second-hand smoke and smokers?
How many people do you think are actually affected by this?

I don't smoke nor have ever smoked. I find it a little difficult to breathe in a smoky environment.

However, I have never seen an objective analytical report showing a linkage of second hand smoking causing serious health problems or death. In mentioning this in a prior posting on another forum on this board, a couple of upset posters provided links for advocacy sites such as the American Cancer Society, but again the information was all narrative and anecdotal, not the hard analysis I have been seeking validating the health dangers of second hand smoke.

I don't claim it is an overblown issue, I just want to see the core analysis that validated this conclusion.

[GypsySoul22]

I personally think it is harmful. I get a headache from it. Today I started a job and 4 of 4 other people (apart from me) smoked. There was no place for me to get a breath of air or a break without smoke. It was yet another reason (not the only) why I quit. I don't feel it's healthy to be around.

[max's mama]

Awful. There is a heavy metal that it's the second-hand smoke called Cadmium. Long exposure to it causes liver/bone/blood damage.
Even smokers themselves are not susceptible to cadmium from smoking as much as second-hand smockers.

I will say something that can offend a smocker now but I will say it anyway: you want to poison yourself, lock yourself in the closet and go ahead, suck on that cancer stick. Stop poisoining society.

[GypsySoul22]

What I can't stand is how smokers get 'extra breaks' while everyone else who doesn't smoke has to cover for them.