Public Smoking: Should it be legal?

Reflection: Despite our diverse reasoning for not smoking, it is quite fortunate that we haven’t dealt with not only addiction to smoking but the negative effects that smoking has on our bodies. There were no gender, class, or age differences that impacted the way that the subject was approached. Our only difference was race but it wasn’t something that should be erased, it was more of something we acknowledged and we embraced. While talking to the subject, we ended up getting super comfortable and my understanding of his race/religion increased substantially. Prior to this interview, my relationship with him was great where most of the time we would have a lot of conflicting opinions but in this case we mainly agreed with each other on our opinions on smoking. I feel like there is some sort of universal understanding on this topic that smoking will always be harmful to people but whether it should be allowed in public can be debatable. In terms of choosing this topic, it was quite easy and simple to pick this topic out because of how relatable it is and how it is constantly on my mind. As stated in my conclusion, readers should understand me and Mohammad’s viewpoint on public smoking. Specifically, why we are strongly against it and why everyone should be against it, too. I understand how smoking can be very useful to those who needs to relieve stress or something and that it is a personal choice but doing it in public makes it that some of the effects are literally gonna affect some of the people around.

                         When it comes to smoking in public, my interviewee Mohammad Petal, a Muslim Bengali male, born in Bangladesh, believes it is harmful to the environment and the people around the smoker. He is also a very religious man that would follow the Quran and practice his religion and due to his religion, he would believe smoking is haram or otherwise known as sinful or immoral. His religion has a huge impact on his viewpoint on smoking and many other activities. Me and Mohammad share similar opinions on smoking but for different reasons. He dislikes smoking primarily due to religion, I dislike smoking due to reason. Reasons include the harmful effects that smoking has on our body and the environment. Since we both dislike smoking, we would also disagree with smoking in public places. We understand why people smoke and if they smoke, it would not impact the way we look at them but smoking in a public area is a different story. On the other hand, I am not Muslim but instead an agonist. The difference is that he believes the Quran and the definite existence of God/Allah while I believe in the possibility that there could be a God but not definitive. Since I do not belong to any specific religion, our experiences differ in many ways.

                         Mohammad’s religion of Islam consists of 5 pillars that basically describe their practices. According to a pluralism project in Harvard, “the key practices of Islam are referred to as “The Five Pillars” and include: shahadah (statement of faith), salat (prayer five times a day), zakat (giving a portion of one’s possession, usually 2.5% of annual wealth, through local mosques or organizations), sawm (fasting from sunrise to sunset in the month of Ramadan), and Hajj (pilgrimage to the Ka’bah in Mecca during the month of Dhu’l-Hijjah).” In short, Islam is the religion of the Muslims, a monotheistic faith regarded as revealed through Muhammad as the Prophet of Allah by definition. Some things are considered haram in their lives that are almost normal in non-muslim lives. Some of these haram things include intoxication, gambling, eating pork, and same sex relationships. Smoking is something that is heavily prohibited in Muslim culture, the seriousness of this should not be taken lightly because of the consequences that come with such decision making. A problem with even non-smokers is that they are sometimes exposed to it even if they don’t want to. He once said , “Of course not but I most definitely have seen smokers every now and then in my vicinity.” when I asked him if he has ever smoked before. This proves how he is a victim of public smoking and why he would be against it.

                        It also commonly happens to me when walking out in public. Inhaling smoke while trying to get to where I need to is extremely upsetting. I am a Chinese male born in America, I am agnostic, I am not religious and don’t necessarily believe in the existence of a God but more of the possibility of one. It is possible that there could be multiple gods but as an agonist, I believe in reason/science. Not fully believing in God until I have seen evidence that makes me confirm my answer. Agnostic are, by definition, people who believe that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God. May be confused with Atheism but the main difference is that they don’t believe in God whatsoever and would deny the possibility of its existence. We typically don’t have any religious practices and no rules to abide by. So my reason for not smoking has nothing to do with religion but more because smoking is extremely harmful to people and makes Earth more inhabitable by the second due to pollution. Many of the harms consist of but are not limited to an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and flow of blood. It also narrows your arteries and hardens your artery walls, which can cause cancer.

                         In conclusion, we have similarities between our beliefs that we both understand smoking is typically immoral. We understand the downsides of smoking and the negative impact it leaves on people and the environment. Religion impacts his opinion on smoking in general and it would make sense for him to dislike public smoking. For me, I understood what smoking can do and even though smoking is a personal choice, choosing to smoke it in public doesn’t give people the choice on whether they would inhale it or not. Whether you can relate to people smoking near you and having some of that smoke inhaled or distract you when walking outside, it should be understood how disrespectful it is, even from someone who never experienced it.