Should second-hand smoke be illegal in a home with children?

[starzrn]

What do you think?

[starzrn]

I haven't the slightest idea why I'm posting this but~

Why should Studentpn 73 Answer your questions?

If I were her, I wouldn't. I have been waiting 17 pages for you to answer a single question I posed and....here I am, still waiting.

I put a lot of time, thought and effort in my responses to your questions. So have many, many others.

You actually posed a very thought provoking topic, and instead of embracing the original interest you sparked, you have ended all insightful discourse offered.

I'm sure you will counter with the fact that you have also posed questions to "people speaking against" the topic that you feel haven't been answered yet....

But I have answered your only real question: I told you indirectly once, and

directly once: that the hypothetical child suffering with asthma or any other related breathing ailment, should be reported to social work as there are laws that already exist that will help them.

I am pretty sure the moderators are standing on the doorstep of this thread, simply biding their time before they shut this down. Personally I think it will be a blessing.

Although I don't agree with you, you need to learn that in order to create a movement and change in the world, you need support for the idea.

Starting off on a discussion thread is an excellent point, but if you are not willing to listening to opposing views now, and rationally explain and answer concerns and most importantly adapt your ideas....How will you ever do it on a larger scale?

The world is a much tougher crowd to "win over" than nurses...

That said- good luck with your ventures

Because, although I became your "nemisis of a sort" on here

I do truly think that smoking around children is terrible

and I'm done.

I am sorry if I did not respond earlier. I really do appreciate your response and when you say report to social work do you mean CPS?

[starzrn]

I'm just curious if you've thought about the class implications of fining or whatever parents who smoke around their kids. Since higher rates of smoking are correlated with higher rates of poverty...do families that already have the cards stacked against them need further undermining?

I'm also curious: how much experience do you have with group homes for kids?

I was a foster parent for years, but no group home experience.

[meesh2lit]

Smokers sometimes think that it is ok if you do not smoke around your children. However, they must take into account the fact that the smoke seeps into your hair, facial hair, clothing and in fabrics throughout your car or home. So unless your kids don't ever go in your car or unless you take a shower and change your clothes before having contact with your child, especially newborns, then yes their health can be effected. It may not be a sudden change but the smoke and nicotine is still there on your hands, in your hair and on your clothing. If you take proper precautions then by all means go ahead, but saying you don't smoke around your kids is not good enough.

[starzrn]

Here is a great reminder of how we can educate families about the toxic effects of cig smoke and how to prevent it:

http://www.yourhealthdetective.com/2010/06/new-post4.html

Third-hand Smoke -- Invisible Toxic Gases...Protect Yourself!

Cigarette Smoke 101:

Second-hand smoke is the smoke from another's cigarette.

Third-hand smoke is the invisible, toxic gases and particulates that cling to hair, skin, clothing, furnishings, automobile interiors, public places, aircraft -- AFTER smoking has ceased.

Toxic chemicals in smoke linger and become embedded in people and everthing within the environment where the smoke was airborne and...are still inhaled after any visible smoke is long gone.

Third-hand smoke endangers ANYONE who comes into contact with smokers, their homes, cars, or their possessions -- airing out a room or car by opening windows or using fans may make you feel the air is clean...it is NOT...it is STILL contaminated with toxic gases and particulates...Click to continue reading...

Smoke Gets in More than Your Eyes!

Two renowned pediatric immunologists, Dr. Stuart Abramson (Texas Children's Hospital), and Dr. Angela Stotts (Professor of family medicine, Houston University Texas Health Science Center), explain that being in a room where others have smoked exposes everyone to a high dose of toxic contaminants. They go on to explain that particles embed on objects such as furniture, drapes, clothing, hair, etc. of a smoker. Anyone in contact with the smoker or their belongings, receive exposure to the toxic chemicals and carcinogen residue long after the smoke has dissipated.

Those that still smoke believe if they smoke outdoors, it poses no health-depleting effects to others. What they fail to understand is that the toxic smoke residues are still on their person in mega doses. Most often, it's the children who are affected to these harzardous chemicals because they live in homes of smokers, ride in their cars, crawl on the carpeting, and ingest particulates left by smoking...even if the room is aired out. Additionally, there is a real danger to an infant or child when a smoker holds or is in close proximity because the child makes direct contact with chemical residues.

Health Threat to Others Besides Children

Everyone is exposed when a smoker has been in an environment. The general public experiences third-hand smoke when they get into an elevator occupied by a smoker who just stepped out for a cigarette or when a colleague they work with in the same room/office takes a cigarette break. According to Dr. Jonathan P. Winickoff, assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, cigarette smoke is SO TOXIC that the odor others notice clinging to the smoker is a message: "Your brain is telling you: 'Get away.'"

What You Can Do to Avoid Toxic Air

Cars should NEVER be used for smoking - toxic residues cling to everything in the interior.

Fill the home or office with green plants like spider plants to freshen and filter airborne particulates.

Only use low or no-VOC paint on walls in rooms where smoking has occurred - a healthy practice whether a smoker is present or not. If you purchase a home or office that is already painted, repaint with no-VOC paint and use a no-VOC sealer prior to painting.

Cleaning furnishings that have been in a smoker's environment will not guarantee removal of all toxic substances. It is best to either replace furnishings or have them recovered and make sure all the interior support (foam, cotton batting, etc.) is all replaced.

Do not use air fresheners of any type to "cover" odor, even if it's essential oils it may smell fresher but it's not.

Be especially diligent when in public places that once allowed smoking (aircraft, restaurants, bars, trains, etc.) because everything you handle has the potential to still have toxic cigarette smoke residue.

[mother of 4]

I am a Mother of4 children and I am also a smoker, However I never smoke in the house with my children I have a smokeing porch that is screaned in and has heat lamps for winter i live in west Virgina and it gets quite cold in the winter. I have one child that has asthma. He is not the oldest and my non house smoking has been in effect from the day i found out i was having my first child. I do not think that it should be a law that you cant smoke in your home it should be a PC. if we let laws pass that govern what we do in our own home will they stop at just one. I will not say it is right to smoke around your children cause i dont think it is but I dont think its right for my child to be removed from me or anyone else cause they smoke. look at our crime rates now that they say spanking your child is wrong there is a diff from a spanking and a beating just like there is a diff between child abuse and smoking. you can say all you want about fines and who will police the laws if it was to ever pass. But ask yourself this would you like it if someone was telling you that you couldnt drive your car because a child might walk into a street and then what if you couldnt dye your hair because the fumes after you return home can harm your child. and once again i will say smoking around your child is wrong but its my choice

[caliotter3]

Oh, I see this tonight when I just started choking on the smoke from my neighbor, again. I can not truly describe the intensity of the smoke coming into my apartment through the ventilation since that neighbor moved in, when it intensified several months ago. Much, much, much more than what I have to endure on a daily basis. When I complained to management, they said they "talked" to him. For several days he made a big show of being outside smoking where I would see him when I drove up, or came down to leave. Big, big show. Waking up in the middle of the night choking, my eyes burning, the sensation of smoke throughout my breathing passages, that burning sensation in my mouth and throat that never goes away. Paroxysmal coughing jags that went on for hours. I kept wondering what is wrong with me? A pulmonologist diagnosed me with asthma. Strange that I didn't develop asthma until this man moved in above me. Right now my eyes are burning and my throat is sore. I'm in agony. This is every day.

I have looked on the internet for resources. I can go through the trouble of hiring an attorney and suing. But I remember what happened to the disabled people that used to live in this building before the owners decided they would start raising their rents. The only answer is to move. But I don't have the money or the credit to find a nice place. All that I can afford is worse ghetto than this building. I can assume what kind of clean air I will find in one of those places.

I am a victim of second hand smoke. I see nothing pleasant about being forced to live like this.

That makes me really wonder about my last hh client with a respiratory diagnosis and the smoke that was in that home. I documented. I taught the mother and documented some more. I did my best to ventilate the place when the smokers were gone. Nothing to be done. My supervisor told me, just a reminder, "We can teach them, and we can document, but we can't make them change the way they choose to live".

I feel so sorry for that patient because I can choose to leave my apartment and sleep outside in my car. He can not get out of bed and walk outside to get away from the smoke. I think of him when I start to choke again.

[iShadow]

I think secondhand smoke should be VERY illegal because my bro does it and it causes ALOT of stabbing/sharp pain in my lungs but he just doesn't care and won't go outside and gets mad because of that and the pain is so bad I destroy the landlords house because of it,he creates drama with it all because he won't go outside and my parents say im the only one with this pain so they think it doesn't exist. My life hasn't been the same for 5 years because he won't go outside or quit. I just feel so screwed and it's not fair to anybody.