Report: Secondhand Smoke 'More Annoyance Than Mortal Threat'

Mounting evidence suggests exposure to secondhand smoke is "more an annoyance than a mortal threat," Slate reports.

The online news blog says that studies once showed that heart-attack rates and other health issues associated with cigarettes dramatically dropped in smoke-free environments, but more recent investigations say otherwise.

"Newer, better studies with much larger sample sizes have found little to no correlation between smoking bans and short-term incidence of heart attacks," Slate's Jacob Grier writes.

"The updated science debunks the alarmist fantasies that were used to sell smoking bans to the public, allowing for a more sober analysis suggesting that current restrictions on smoking are extreme from a risk-reduction standpoint."

He adds that the new evidence should be used to ease some restrictions.

"It may be neither feasible nor desirable to set back the clock and permit smoking everywhere, but laws in a liberal society can accommodate the rights and preferences of smokers and business owners far better than they do now," Grier says. "After years of closing doors on smokers, it is time to open a few back up."

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