The New York City (NYC) government has been leading the way to prevent public smoking. Starting with the 1908 ban on female public smoking, the city has paved the way for other urban areas to do the same. There are currently five major pieces of legislation passed in NYC aimed to prevent public smoking. This legislation has made it unlawful to smoke in: restaurants, bars, hospital grounds, parks, beaches, and pedestrian plazas. The scientific basis for these laws is rooted in the public health concern that secondhand smoke poses. Secondhand smoke has been shown to cause various diseases to those exposed, including lung cancer and heart disease. In addition, secondhand smoke has been shown in children to cause asthma, respiratory infections, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, among other afflictions. The NYC government has deemed the problem of cigarette smoking a threat to public health and therefore has passed these preventive laws. However, many NYC citizens and advocacy groups believe that the law encroaches on many civil liberties that we are allotted as American citizens. Opponents of the anti-smoking laws believe that the bans on public smoking are an invasion of privacy and that the government has intruded too much into citizens’ personal lives. This paper will aim to address the legal and ethical dilemma surrounding the bans by investigating the struggle between individual rights and public health concerns.
“BLOOMBERG BILL TO REQUIRE LANDLORDS TO DISCLOSE SMOKING
POLICY.” New York City Coalition For a Smoke-Free City. Web.
<http://www.nycsmokefree.org/>.
This source is the website of the New York City Coalition for a Smoke-Free City, an advocacy group that supports the legislation passed by Mayor Bloomberg to ban cigarette smoking in public places. This website will be used primarily to understand the perspective of supporters of the ban.
“CIGARETTE TAXES IN NYC.” NYC C.L.A.S.H. Web. <http://www.nycclash.com/>.
This source is the website of NYC Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH), a grassroots organization that is opposed to the NYC ban on public smoking. This website will be used primarily to gain an understanding of the viewpoint of the opposition to the laws.
National Research Council. 1986. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: Measuring Exposures
and Assessing Health Risks. Washington DC: Natl. Acad. Press.
This is a very important report issued by the National Research Council that evaluated the health effects that stem from being exposed to secondhand smoke. This report will be used to understand the scientific and public health basis for the public smoking ban in NYC.
United States Dept. of Health and Human Services. 1986. The Health Consequences of
Involuntary Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. US Dept. of Health and Human Serv., Public Health Serv., Cent. for Disease Control, Off. on Smoking and Health, DHHS Pub. No. (CDC)87-8398. Washington DC: US GPO
This is a watershed report issued by the Surgeon General in 1986 about secondhand smoking. This was the first time a Surgeon General’s report focused exclusively on the health consequences of secondhand smoke. This report will be used to understand the scientific basis of the NYC ban on public smoking.
Winickoff, Jonathan P., Mark Gottlieb, and Michelle M. Mello. “Regulation of Smoking in
Public Housing.” New England Journal of Medicine (n.d.): n. pag. Print.
This article was an essay that appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine that urged for cigarette smoking to be banned in all public housing buildings. This article will be useful because it is written by experts on public health and addresses both the scientific and legal ramifications of a ban on smoking.
