Smoke Attacks

Knowing is not enough; we must apply.
Willing is not enough; we must do" - Goethe

Maybe its just us but we like to go to the source and maybe only "squints" can get away with submitting a "uncorrected proofs" prepublication copy. We were never allowed to submit such a thing when we were in school but that was a long time ago. The Goethe quote comes from the pages of the report. What they found and published as a scientific evidence was the title "Secondhand Smoke Exposure and Cardiovascular Effects - Making Sense of the Evidence" concludes that: "...that data consistently demonstrates that secondhand-smoke exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease and heart attacks and that smoking bans reduce this risk. Given the prevalence of heart attacks, and the resultant deaths, smoking bans can have a substantial impact on public health."

This might be news to smokers and the paid defenders of the "right to smoke"campaign but for those of us challenged breathers this isn't news. While some people might remember the movie Basic Instinct for Sharon Stone's legs - for us it was the lighting of her cigarette that preceded the crossing. That kind of smoke attack strikes us whenever we see a dangerous gang of smokers crowding the entrance of some public building. You have to take a deep breath before crossing their path and holding it until you can clear the area. This same type of physical reaction can occur whenever a person is terrified of being attacked.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a statement in support of the report saying:

• "Exposure to secondhand smoke could cause acute coronary events, such as a heart attack.
• Evidence suggests that even brief secondhand smoke exposure might trigger a heart attack.
• Smoke-free bans decrease acute coronary events."

One of the wonderful things about our smokefree DC though there is no smokefree MD or VA. Whenever we travel south and stop through VA we have to share air space with smokers separated only by a door or partition. Whether or not Virginia adopts or makes any changes to current laws or not is yet to be determined. To those of us desperate to breath we'll just have to hold our breaths until then.

Bill Maher who we credit with the "thinning the herd" comment smoked up until a few (more than nine) years ago. Who knew that he was actively pursuing that goal. Now we know!

While we certainly felt attacked and all but the most dense of smokers thought somehow blowing their smoke in the air was effort enough for us as long as it wasn't in our faces. It's doubtful that even this report will be received with any more belief. To again quote Maher not as long as our Government "is a Mafia that wants a cut."