How To Say No
At home
"Mom, (honey, friend's name), I know it's hard when
you don't smoke, but I know you care about your health.
I'd like to ask you to smoke outside from now on. I don't
want to hurt your feelings, but this is really important."
In public places
"I'd like to ask a favor. Would you stop smoking?"
"I'd really appreciate it. My doctor says tobacco smoke
can cause ling cancer in nonsmokers."
"Cigarette smoke is really bad for my allergies/my child's
asthma/ my husband's heart condition."
"Maybe you didn't know, but this is a nonsmoking
area."
Health Effects Associated With ETS Exposure
In 1986,
two landmark reports were published on the association between ETS exposure
and the adverse health effects in nonsmokers: one by the U.S. Surgeon General
and the other by the Expert Committee on Passive Smoking, National Academy of
Sciences' National Research Council (NAS/NRC). Both of these reports concluded
that:
ETS can cause lung cancer in healthy adult nonsmokers;
Children of parents who smoke have more respiratory symptoms and acute lower respiratory tract infections, as well as evidence of reduced lung function, than do children of nonsmoking parents; and
Separating smokers and nonsmokers within the same air space may reduce but does not eliminate a nonsmoker's exposure to ETS.
