You’re walking down the
street, minding your own business, and suddenly you get a face full of smoke. I
can bet that a few of you reading can relate to this situation, especially in
the city. It’s not that big of a deal, for the most part. But if you have
asthma like I do things get a bit complicated. I don’t have a family history of
breathing issues, but I did grow up around loved-ones who smoked. My asthma is
also not as severe as it might be for others, but it is allergy-induced and
irritable. That annoying puff of smoke can ruin the rest of my day. At the very
least, I have to deal with an annoying lump in my chest or a persistent cough,
slowing me down. Here are some facts just to set the record straight:
1. Nearly
34,000 cases of heart disease deaths and 7,300 lung cancer deaths occurred from
2005–2009 among adult nonsmokers in the United States due to secondhand smoke
(from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2014).
2. There
is no safe level of smoke exposure. Secondhand smoke still exposes us to the
4000+ chemicals, 70 of which are known carcinogens (Health Canada), many
of which pollute the surrounding environment.
By
now, most people know how serious secondhand smoke can be, or at least I hope
so. Still, you are responsible for your own body and decisions. But we need to
ask who is responsible for one’s influence on other people? I can’t blame
people who smoke for my asthma any more than I can blame my genetics. I just
ask that people consider others around them and their impact.
If
anyone is looking for help with quitting, the university has a lot of resources
as well! The University of Ottawa Health Promotion team and Health Services have
a lot of resources for both smokers and their family and friends for support
and quitting options. You can also contact Leave the Pack Behind for free NRTs
and other online resources.
The
university also has asked students about their opinion of a completely
smoke-free campus. You can find more information about the movement to smoke
free campuses across Canada from Leave the Pack Behind or the Canadian Cancer
Society. Regardless, I’d ask everyone to think about it. How does smoking
impact you?
Elza, 4th year
BHSc Student
LTBP Social Change
Specialist
P.S
You can also enter in one of four Would You Rather contest categories (for all
sorts of people, from those who smoke to those that have never smoked) by
January 27th to challenge yourself and maybe win some money.
1. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50
Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking
and Health, 2014 [accessed 2018 Dec 21].
2. Health
Canada. Dangers of second-hand smoke, 2015 [accessed 2018 Dec 23].