No Smoking Rules Expanded in Israel
Israel
is cracking down on smokers in public spaces, as evidence mounts that secondary
smoke is also a killer.
New
legislation went into effect Wednesday prohibiting smokers from lighting up in
various additional public venues.
Among
the latest “hot spots” to be banned for smokers are train platforms, covered
bus stops, central bus stations and government offices. In addition, smoking is
now also prohibited in work places, except in rooms specifically set aside as
designated “smoking areas” by the company's management.
In
hospitals, smokers need to stand a minimum of 10 meters away from entrances and
doorways.
Bluntly,
tens of thousands of people die each year in the United States from the effects
of secondhand smoke (SHS), according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Among
the findings by the U.S. Surgeon General listed on the ACS website are clear,
stark statements such as: "SHS kills children and adults who don't smoke,”
and “SHS causes disease in children and in adults who don't smoke.”
Secondhand
smoke is defined as that which comes from the end of a lighted cigarette, pipe
or cigar. It has higher concentrations of carcinogens (cancer-causing agents)
that smoke exhaled by smokers.
Nevertheless,
as a mixture of both, SHS is classified as a “known human carcinogen” by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the World Health Organization.
Non-smokers
who inhale secondhand smoke, which has been linked to emphysema and lung
cancer, take in nicotine and other toxic chemicals just as smokers do.
Other
research has suggested possible links to leukemia, breast cancer, heart disease
and other health problems.
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