Expanded smoking ban offers cleaner air, but not cleaner bill of health

The New York City Council approved a bill Wednesday expanding the City’s public smoking ban to beaches and parks after a study showed 57 percent of New Yorkers had cotinine, a nicotine byproduct, in their blood compared with a 45 percent national average. Proponents of the measure argue that it was passed in the name of public health.

ACSH’s Cheryl Martin points out that these smoking bans have become a very emotional issue because they pit individual rights against quality of life concerns. “This bill won't necessarily improve public health. As ACSH has pointed out many times, the impact of secondhand smoke on health is overstated. If I were a smoker, I would ask why even allow the sale of a product for use in New York if you have already banned its use in every venue conceivable? The question now becomes: Where can a smoker light up? As a non-smoker, it’s easy to accept at face value that these restrictions are great for me. But, in reality, does embracing this ban set a precedent for other government mandates, interventions and restrictions that are rooted in inferior science?”

ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan agrees: “This is an extremist anti-smoking movement in action.” ACSH’s Dr. Gilbert Ross adds that the ban is actually part of the plan to “denormalize smoking and make it less appealing. Kids may looks at all the smokers shivering outside getting their nicotine fix and think twice before smoking cigarettes. Now, allowing the use of electronic cigarettes would be a public health benefit and keep the air clean for non-smokers.”