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Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Second-hand Smoke

I hate smoking more than anyone -- trust me -- but this kind of conclusion is completely absurd:
The presence of a bunch of adults dedicated to abstaining from alcohol and drugs might seem like an unusual source of blight -- but some Los Angeles City Council members say that it poses a real threat to the quality of life in many neighborhoods.

An influx of sober-living homes has so affected some areas, city officials say, that children can't play outside in the evening because of second-hand smoke from recovering addicts' cigarettes and the adult nature of their 12-step conversations in backyards.
Come on. This is talking about second-hand smoke in an outdoor environmen, subject to considerable wafts. But it's simple common sense that no outdoor area is going to be so inundated with 2nd-hand smoke as to render its use impossible. You don't even need meters to measure this -- it's prima facie absurd.

So why does the LA City Council get to get away with this. And why does the press let them?

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous9:47 PM

    I wonder. I've been allergic to tobacco all my life, and I'll have the itchy eyes and runny/stuffy nose for a quarter of an hour before I can actually smell tobacco smoke.

    I imagine its other effects also start at very low levels.

    How much does it take per day of second hand smoke to toggle that 'attractive' perception?

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080808123144.htm

    Or more cynically, if the tobacco companies weren't working so hard
    http://www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/91/11/1749
    and so long and so effectively toward defeating restrictions on second hand smoke, I wouldn't be so suspicious that it serves as one route to addiction for some youngsters.

    What else are they about, really?

    I know. But I just wonder.

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