Jump to full article: Newsweek, 2009-06-27
Author: Jonathan P. Winickoff * NEWSWEEK
Intro: Ten years ago, I was the doctor for an 18-year-old with cystic fibrosis whose mother was a heavy smoker. The patient told me how she coughed, wheezed, and choked when she was at home. I became close with her; it seemed she was always in the hospital, and I couldn't help but think it was because she wanted to escape a toxic environment. Three years later, at 21, she died—more than 14 years before a person with cystic fibrosis could be expected to live at that time.
She is not the only young patient of mine to feel the effects of secondhand smoke. More must be done to address this suffering. . . .
change can't come fast enough for children from lower income levels, where rates of exposure to secondhand smoke are especially high—not surprising, given that poor adults smoke at higher rates. Children in densely populated public housing suffer the worst.
That's ironic, since these smoke-filled environments are subsidized by the same government that spends billions of dollars on secondhand-smoke-related disease. . . .
Some people argue that smoke-free regulation weighs against our longstanding cultural values surrounding privacy and protecting the sanctity of our homes. These values are important. But when considering them against the health of a child who has never smoked but is suffering from tobacco exposure in his own building, the choice is clear to me.
Jump to full article » |