outdoor smoking banned in New York city

Effective Monday, May 24, 2011, outside smoking will be banned in most public places in New York city.  The law passed and signed in February, makes smoking illegal in New York City's 1,700 parks, on the city's 14 miles of public beaches and pedestrian plazas like Times Square. The law is intended to prevent second hand smoking and the violators could be fined $50.

With this law, New York city joins 105 municipalities (in states including California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and New Jersey) to ban smoking on public beaches and 507 municipalities that ban smoking in public parks.

smoking just one cigarette can kill you

According to recently issued report by the Surgeon General, “Even brief exposure to tobacco smoke causes immediate harm to the body, damaging cells and inflaming tissue in ways that can lead to serious illness and death.

Every exposure to tobacco, from occasional smoking or secondhand smoke, can damage DNA in ways that lead to cancer. Tobacco smoke damages almost every organ in your body and one cigarette can kill you.

According to the report, about 40 million Americans smoke — 20% of adults and older teens. Tobacco kills more than 443,000 a year.

just one cigarette can kill you

Cigarette smoking costs the country more than $193 billion a year in health care costs and lost productivity.

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