Outdoor Smoking Ban?

The Los Angeles Times calls for studies on the effects of secondhand smoke in outdoor environments in order to determine whether smoking outdoors should be banned. “California legislators want to ban smoking at state beaches and parks, and they’ve sent a bill to the governor that would do just that. It remains to be seen whether he’ll sign the measure, designed to reduce the public’s exposure to secondhand smoke, not to mention cut back on cigarette butt litter. But just what are the health effects of inhaling the smoke of somebody else’s cigarette? And does it matter if exposure is fleeting — and outdoors? Researchers have answers about the health effects (and yes, they’re negative), but their conclusions are based on smoke-filled indoor environments; the relevance for outdoor settings is less clear.”