An Overlawyered reader makes a point worth debating about second hand smoke and the law:

In the case of smoking, I am one of those who thinks someone smoking around me (in public, of course – they can do as they like as long as the smoke stays on their own property) is a form of assault.

Analogy – chlorine gas. A little more obvious, a little quicker, and therefore easier to condemn, but whatever crime someone who releases chlorine gas in a public place (or directly onto my property) is committing, a person who blows their smoke on me in a similar manner is committing.

You want to dip? Chew? Snuff? Take tobacco intravenously? Knock yourself out – but leave me out of it! And if the legislature won’t protect my rights, then the lawyers are all I have left… Ouch, that’s a terrible choice.

It certainly is a terrible choice. But, is the case for second hand smoke really analogous to chlorine gas? Chlorine gas is highly caustic and causes immediate damage to the lungs. Lung damage can occur with doses as low as 9 parts per million.

Second hand tobacco smoke, on the other hand, is a little more complex. It’s composed of many different components, for one thing, kind of like smoke from a fire. One of its deadliest components is, perhaps, carbon monoxide, which can kill at concentrations of 2000 ppm and cause symptoms at doses of 200ppm. The amount of carbon monoxide in second hand smoke will vary depending on the concentration of the smoke, but even in a submerged submarine filled with smokers, the amount of carbon monoxide produced in three days is only 6.6 ppm, well within OSHA’s work-safety standards.

A better analogy of second hand smoke would be perfume. As crazy as this may sound, I have never had to admit someone for an exacerbation of their asthma or emphysema because their neighbor or a relative was smoking outside on their porch. But, I have had to admit patients whose asthma or emphysema was aggravated by perfume or incense. So where do we draw the line? If the smoker commits assault with his second hand smoke, then so, too, do the heavily perfumed with their Chanel No. 5.

Filed under: tobacco