No smoking please

I’m not a smoker, none of my family members smoke and neither do any of my friends.

This weekend I discussed the issue of smoking with my new roommate. She said her biggest pet peeve is cigarette smoke and she can’t tolerate it. The problem is one of our roommates smoke and whether they will work the issue out or not is between the two of them.

Well that same weekend, I was watching America’s Next Top Model’s new season. As many of you know, it’s a show about young women who want to compete to become models and the winner is usually decided by how well they do in their photo shoots. For the models’ first photo shoot, they were asked to display a glamorous side to smoking and then go back to the make-up room and then come out for a second shot to display the horrible effects of smoking. The models portrayed effects of chemotherapy, emphysema, accidental burns, etc. This was supposed to show youths out there that smoking is not at all glamorous, in fact, it’s the opposite.

America’s Next Top Model is maybe setting these models to be “good role” models. The influence not to smoke could certainly help others to not start or to stop. And there are many more people following these steps and taking a stand against smoking, which could signal smoking to be more unpopular than popular.

As I was searching through non-smoking sites, I came across this article by the Washington Post about how Washington D.C. has banned smoking in 2005 in public spaces, restaurants, bars, etc.

The Washington Post article states:

National anti-smoking activists hailed the vote, saying that having the nation's capital go smoke-free carries great symbolic importance. "It puts an exclamation point on what we see as a national trend," said Daniel Smith, vice president of government affairs for the American Cancer Society.

Washington D.C.’s ban on smoking in public places was a great choice to be made. What could be a better influence? Being a non-smoker and asthmatic, I have to be glad about prominent places/organizations taking a stand against smoking. After all, what good can come from smoking?

Whether it’s the nation’s capital that says no to smoking or a model with scary make-up on, the word is getting out: Smoking is bad for you.