Letter
to the editor
Smokers
Unite!
Re
“Smoke free: the way to be for CSULB,”
Opinion, April 22: Ms. Garrido-Ortega has
redefined ignorance if she thinks curtailing
cigarette smoking will clean up the air
in the L.A. basin. If you haven’t
noticed, our air is inundated unhealthy
levels of hydrocarbons, ozone and carbon
monoxide from car exhaust. Are we therefore
going to allow driving in only designated
areas? No.
Here’s
another toxic gas you for: Hydrogen-sulfide.
In EPA experiments, low-levels of exposure
to this gas caused lung, liver and kidney
damage in laboratory rats. Where does this
gas come from? It comes from your ass; It’s
a primary component in farts. Are we going
to require people to fart in only designated
areas (as much as I would like this to happen)?
No!
Despite
the EPA’s classification of environmental
tobacco smoke (ETS) as a Class A carcinogen,
there is not one report that proves adverse
health effects from incidental or insignificant
contact to ETS. Studies on ETS health effects
were done on long term exposures in homes
and workplaces. Any inference that smelling
a little smoke on ones way to class will
cause cancer is false.
I
would argue that smokers, such as myself,
are fully aware of the heath effects of
smoking. We are also aware that non-smokers
don’t like to be near us when we do
smoke. We’re OK with this, and we
don’t go out of our way to try to
blow smoke in people’s faces. We choose
to smoke because it is our right to choose.
However,
curtailing our freedoms to small zones is
unjust and fascist in nature. We are willing
to be flexible, but this kind of regulation
no one would stand for. If these policies
go into effect I urge all smokers to perform
a little civil disobedience, and light up
wherever you want. Don’t let ignorant
people make ignorant polices.
--
Jesse Langham
computer engineering
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