Where is it safe to smoke?

Dear Editor,

I saw Peter last Thursday. He was looking quite stressed. He was having a bad case of sinusitis. He had to be better by Saturday as he had an important meeting. He was still smoking. Since the smoking ban, he stopped smoking at work; he smoked in his car and at home. He lived with his wife and child. He was advised that continuing smoking would not get his sinusitis better by Saturday. He was given a prescription and shown how to use an inhaler with a spacer and I would follow-up his progress.

Four days later, I saw Sheila. She was Peter's wife. She also had sinusitis. She smoked, second-hand. She told me that Peter had stopped smoking for a couple of days, got better by weekend, and then resumed smoking. She wished that her husband would confine his smoking to one room in the house or go outside.

While he did not smoke in their bedroom, the child's bedroom or the child's bathroom, she commented that she could smell the smoke in the bedroom as it diffused in from the other rooms. The smoke made her feel sick. Their child also became sick from the exposure.

If you live alone, then you may smoke anywhere in your home. However, if you are like Peter, living with a family, you may want to pause a little and answer a few questions. How are you able to protect your wife and child from second-hand smoke at home? How important is it to you that your family keeps well?

Should the Government protect Peter's family from second-hand smoke inside the home?

Aldyth Buckland, MD

aldyth_buckland@yahoo.com

Where is it safe to smoke?

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