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Show Nonsmokers Have Right To Breathe Clean Air Smokers have a right to pursue their habit. Nonsmokers have a right to cltaii air. Sometimes these rights clash. Confined places such as airplanes, meeting ro6ms, elevators and restaurants present special problems. pro-blems. Studies show that in smoke-filled smoke-filled rooms the level of carbon monoxide may be in excess of the legal limits for maximum air pollution. The American Medical Association'.; Associa-tion'.; pamphlet: Smoking: Facts You Should Know, points out that a per- son doesn't- have to be a smoker himself to suffer ill effects from cigarets. A nonsmoker in the company of a smoker breathes in smoke from the burning end of the cigaret as well as the exhaled smoke. Some individuals in-dividuals actually are allergic to tobacco tobac-co smoke and may suffer smoke-caused smoke-caused asthma attacks. If smoking is a personal right, it carries with it the responsibility of respecting the rights of the nonsmoker too. Nonsmokers who suffer from allergies of diverse causes and other nonsmokers find that tobacco smoke causes eye irritation, nasal symptoms, headache and coughing. Inhaling second-hand smoke increases in-creases the heart rate, blood pressure and level of carbon monoxide in the blood. This is particularly dangerous for those with heart and respiratory conditions. An added note: Smoking is unsafe un-safe in more ways than one. People are killed or injured every day as a result of fires caused by careless smokers. The safety hazards of smoking smok-ing are enormous, affecting many innocent in-nocent nonsmokers as well as smokers. |