Smoking ban opponents mostly still opposed

Lee Mauer read the recent news report about a possible link between a community's smoking ban and a drop in heart attacks there.

But Mauer says the new research won't change his view on local smoking bans.
"In this day and age, everyone knows smoking can kill you," the 24-year-old smoker said while flicking his cigarette in an ash tray at a Greater Lafayette bar. Still, Mauer said, he believes the choice of banning smoking should be decided by business owners and not by politicians.
Although proponents of the local smoking bans said the new research helps strengthen their case, the research had little impact on some opponents' views.
According a recently released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, the rate of heart attack hospitalizations dropped 41 percent in the three years after a workplace smoking ban started in Pueblo, Colo.
Secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 ischemic heart disease deaths among American nonsmokers each year, and long-term exposure is associated with a 25 percent to 30 percent increased risk for coronary heart disease in adult nonsmokers, according to the CDC....read more