Worldwide Public Smoking Ban?
Smoking is responsible for countless disabilities and deaths each year. A landmark study by the California Environmental Protection Agency provides evidence that first-hand smoking is not the only problem, however. USA Today reports that the study "found that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease, adult asthma, premature birth and sudden infant death syndrome. It also determined that exposure causes an average 68% increase in breast cancer risk for women under 50 and that some women who had not reached menopause have as much as a 120% risk."
In response, according to the story, the World Health Organization is calling for worldwide smoking bans. Says USA Today: "The WHO will announce ... at the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Washington that the study by California's Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) will be the scientific basis for recommendations due in September."
Also: "The WHO will push for regulations that would make 100% of the world's workplaces and public spaces smoke-free. Only a few countries, including Ireland, have done so."