A Smoke Free World?

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In 2004 Ireland become the first country in the world to ban smoking in the workplace, bars and restaurants – nationwide. Congratulations!!

There are many states in the U.S. that have similar laws, California being the first to enact it in the U.S.

There is now irrefutable evidence that second hand smoking causes premature death and disease, lung cancer, and heart disease. Tragically there are over 5 trillion cigarettes smoked annually and even though the World Health Organization has issued a Convention of Tobacco Control and 145 countries have ratified this treaty the United States of America has not!

Indoor smoking bans have cut cigarette smoking by almost 4% and doubling  the taxes  has cut new young smokers from starting by almost 30% in Canada. We still have no national consensus (or will) to do the same throughout America. There are only 17 States that that have adopted comprehensive anti smoking legislation.

Over 100 million deaths have been attributed to smoking in the 20th Century and yet the manufacturers continue to target the adolescents, minority groups, women and the young in developing countries. This translates in to over 1.3 Billion people still smoking in the world. Congratulations to the Buddhist country of Bhutan which is the only country in the world to ban the sale of tobacco. We have the knowledge and resources to win this battle in our country so is it our lack of will or are the manufacturers smarter and stronger than our will and resources?