Is passive smoking equally harmful?

Yes it is equally or even in some cases more harmful than direct smoking. My parents have smoked my whole life and they didn't know of the harms so they smoked in the house and I was always around it. I to this day can tell you what brand someone is smoking. Anyways I was a very healthy little girl and now that I am almost 26 I have developed asthmetic symptoms. I could someday find I will have lung cancer. I am scared and yet not because I know there is not much I can do about it. I do what I can to stay away from smokers and when I am with one I tell them not to smoke around me. After all when you are away from the smokers you tend to smell like you smoke. Lol, I remember in highschool I used to get asked for a lighter because everyone thought I smoked. I think that the habit is gross and I wish my parents kicked the habbit. My mother now cant breath with out oxygen and my dad will someday be the sameway. So do what you can not to expose yourself to the toxic smoke. It is hard sometimes but try. I know that I would be perfectly healthy if my parents didn't smoke around me but I know it isnt their fault cause they didnt know.

in scientific studies, it shows/says that passive smoking is "more" dangerous than direct smoking..... because the immune system of some one who does not smoke are more fragile thatn the immune system of the one who smokes... why?.. coz a passive smokers body is still not used to smoking than one who does the smoking.... happy mylotting ppl :D

Are you talking about second hand smoke? Some people say it is worse but who knows. This is the first time I hear the term passive smoking. I am sure some non smokers will find it offensive since they hate smoking with a passion, and I say some of them, I do not hang with every single non smoker

yes it is, any department of health of any country, any doctors will show and prove that it is indeed very harmful much more than the active or direct smoking. those who stand or sit next to the smokers can inhale more the smoke than the one smoking. many countries have laws already prohibiting smoking in public places. i hope people will adhere and obey zealously to those laws for the betterment of our health and for us to live longer and not getting sick cause by smoking.

Yes, secondand smoke is VERY harmful! Tons of people die because of that. I think it is terribly rude for people to smoke anywhere where there is another person around. In fact, it is rude to smoke period. Do they not care about their health and their families that love them and don't want to see them sick from smoking?? I cannot stand when people light up around me, especially because I have a young child. I am not asking for your poison to enter into either of our lungs. I think this should be considered murder,

Truly said.. i being a medical student have read that, a particular type of lung cancer is seen more often among the passive smokers than the active smokers as passive smokers don develop enough resistance to the substance and hence are prone to suffer.. i am allergic to smokin.. thnx for openin this discussion..

Hello friend, you've raised a very genuine point here. I do smoke occasionally but then I would never smoke at a public place or at a place where someone else can be smoking passively due to me. It is more harmful than active smoking, as I had read in my school so I try to keep away from it.

You're right. It is more harmful. So those smokers should be considerate enough to stay away from the non-smokers or should use the smoker's area.

What will be the impact of banning smoking in public places? For lung cancer and heart disease alone the estimated effect of eliminating exposure to second-hand smoke in public places in Scotland is a reduction of 219deaths per year.Additional reductions in deaths from stroke and respiratory disease is 187 - a total of 406 deaths per annum. It will take between 15 - 30 years before these savings are realised, so the sooner exposure is restricted or removed, the better.

They say 2nd hand smoke is twice more harmful than the main smoke, so the ones in a more serious health situation would be the people near a smoker and not the smoker himself.