Every year, 53,000 Americans die from diseases caused by exposure to smoking. The Surgeon General, CDC, and National Toxicology Program of the US Department of Health and Human Services have identified smoking as the main cause of cancer, heart disease and other diseases. 

It is a fact that smoking is a health hazard. It contains more than 4,000 chemicals and can leads to many health problems. Smoking kills smokers and non-smokers via passive smoking alike. I believe that I have the right to breathe clean air in restaurants, bars and other workplaces. I do not choose to smoke and therefore should not have to be exposed to smoke when I am in public. I encourage the City Council to strengthen the proposed ordinance. There is no safe alternative other than a complete smoke-free ordinance that covers all public workplaces. 

WAQAR ALAM, 

Karachi, October 15.