Smoking bans cloud free market`s ability to thrive

By Aaron Morris

The harmful effects of cigarettes on smokers have been well documented since the 1950s.

Health officials, doctors and government agencies have long cautioned that cigarettes cause numerous cancers, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and obstructive pulmonary disorders, among other ailments. Despite warning labels and public campaigns, many smokers continue to accept the health risks and simply light up.

Nevertheless, the persistent efforts of health advocates have been increasingly persuasive. Smoking rates in the U.S. have consistently fallen since the early 1960s.¹ Smoking rates per capita have fallen to 22.5 percent² and show no signs of recovering.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control in 1975 called attention to the danger of secondhand smoke a collection of supposedly toxic chemicals that apparently lurks in the air attacking innocent victims long after smokers have exhaled. This notion has spread like a virus courtesy of health officials looking for evidence to indicate that smoking can harm not only smokers, but also others around them.

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