*Outdoor* Secondhand Smoke is a Hazard?

[slang]

I'll try to keep this short.

There's an article I read tonight entitled Smoke-free parks: a 12-year old made it happen. In that article is a specific line that caught my attention.

Negative health effects from exposure to secondhand smoke include asthma, wheezing, ear infections, chronic coughs, and upper respiratory infections. (2) This was the basis the "California Smoke-free Workplace Law" that became effective in California in 1995, requiring worksites to be free from indoor tobacco smoke. Bars, clubs, gaming facilities and taverns became smoke-free in 1998 to protect workers from the effects of secondhand smoke. What is relatively unknown is the extent of the effect that outdoor secondhand smoke has on children and adults. Exposure to outdoor secondhand smoke can negatively impact asthma and allergies. (3)

What is specifically so disturbing about this line is that there is a study referenced.

(3) National Cancer Institute. Health Effects of Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke: The Report of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph no. 10. Bethesda, MD. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, NIH Pub. No. 99-4645, 1999, pp 185-264.

Here are the questions I have:

1) Are the readers to believe that outdoor secondhand smoke is now such a problem that it's logical that smoking be banned outdoors while pollen producing plants and allergenic materials are not?

2) How can ODSHS possibly have an impact on my health if the wind is blowing when I am outdoors with an evil, uncaring smoker?

3) What is the "effective range" of ODSHS? I'm in Pa.. If there's a guy in Texas outside smoking, should I be concerned? Are my rights somehow being violated by this evil bastard? Should I call the ATF to have them extinguish his butt?

4) Does anyone else see this ant-smoking crusade going a bit too far?

5) If you support this ban on smoking outdoors in public places, can you explain why? It seems downright silly and irritating to read this crap peddled as reasonable policy. Please, help me understand this.