What kind of research can be used to promote a public area smoking ban in my city?

First, you might want to check on the rights of citizens to smoke out in the open. to my knowledge, there is no law that forbids this on public property as a whole.

You could look into what restrictions are already in place and discuss any noticed benefits from them. Many hospitals and businesses already have a no smoking zone which usually states people are not to smoke within 50 or 100 feet of the entrances and exits.

AstraZeneca in Delaware has a policy of no smoking on it’s campus, that includes employees smoking in their cars in the parking lot. If the employees want to smoke, they have to leave the property. Many hospitals have a similar policy now (at least in my experience).

You could discuss the benefit of not having smoking at the entrance ways as a way to help prevent people from second hand smoke when going into a building.

California has pretty extensive no smoking zones. I was surprised when at a Dodgers game, my friend was ordered to put out her cigarette in a very uncrowded Dodgers Stadium. Maybe you can Google up some debate from the time the state laws were enacted.

And here’s something, I can’t get the entire document online but maybe you can through your school library.

Over the last few years, smoking bans have been introduced in public places in several countries. Joanne Callinan from Ireland has just completed a Health Research Board Cochrane Fellowship, producing a Cochrane review of the health effects of such bans.

http://www.cochrane.org/podcasts/issue-4-april-2010/legislative-smoking-bans-reducing-secondhand-smoke-exposure-smoking-prev

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/o/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD005992/frame.html

Just a heads up, a lot of the evidence demonstrating the severity of health risks associated with secondhand smoke is very overstated from what I’ve heard. I think arguments in favor of a ban should avoid targeting the health aspects and focus on the unpleasantness of a non-smoker walking through a cloud of smoke. I know if I were debating someone who claimed that people smoking in a public park for example was a major health risk to a non-smoker in the park, I would probably shred their argument to pieces.

@john65pennington

Plenty of places ban smoking in public. Smoking isn’t allowed in parks in San Diego, for example.

Here’s research on cigarette butt litter.

Look I know this topic is not very relevant but I did not realize that when I signed up for. The main thing for me was it needed to be something I feel strongly about and smoking is really the only thing I do.