Apart from the gases expelled by cars, chimneys or the garbage burned in any corner, those who enjoy from nicotine impose on me an asphyxiating atmosphere.

Therefore, when I walk down the street I inhale the smoke from passers-by as if it was my breakfast and when I wait for my bus I constantly evade those people that resemble human stoves, so, after so much inconvenience, the driver of the public bus or perhaps any other passenger decides to smoke.

I am not getting used to breathing an unpleasant air. This rejection has become in my personal obsession given I daily smoke almost a box of cigarettes, although I deeply detest them.

The tension created by the aforementioned exhausting situations really alters the people who are not used to smoking. Right now, we are exposed to residual gases that are formed by four thousand harmful-chemical substances of which nearly 40 are carcinogenic ones. The smoke from a cigarette constitutes the main cause of diseases and deaths attributed to this drug.

Undoubtedly even five centuries ago, King Jacobo I from England while referring to tobacco used to say: “It has a disgusting smell; it is unpleasant to sight, dangerous for brain and harmful to lungs.” However, thousand of people become its involuntary victims while regular smokers do not reconsider their attitude in spite of the warnings on the matter.

It is worth reconsidering those warnings then. Have we ever felt concerned on demanding to heavy smokers to use their smoking areas? Do we ever face attitudes violating our rights as non smoking? Cigarette is considered a legal item, but its usage is a voluntary and private one. Therefore, no one has the right to alter the physical and mental well-being of other human beings.

Why should we feel satisfy with the mere passive smokers condition? Let´s ask for permission to breathe an air free from cigarette´s harmful gases instead. By Laura Barrera Jerez