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As far as I can help it, I don�t smoke! Although I have not lit a cigarette myself since July 2003, every now and then I�m forced to smoke involuntarily, especially when I�m in Ghana, my home country where I spend all my vacations. I have observed in amazement that not a single smoker in Ghana that I have come across is considerate of those who do not smoke. They still do not understand that if I wanted to smoke, I would do it myself. It is not that I cannot afford cigarettes and need a free ride on the extra smoke they blow my way; I just do not want to breathe that grime into my nose and lungs. The smell makes me want to puke! It disgusts me. Period. I�m not even getting into the adverse health effects of tobacco smoke. On my last trip to Ghana sometime in May 2009, I engaged two smokers in a conversation in a nightclub in Accra on the health effects of smoking and secondhand smoke in public places. I did not talk to non-smokers at that club because I have had the opportunity to interview many non-smokers and I know their opinion on secondhand smoke. One of the two smokers I spoke with said he understood that he was abusing non-smokers� right to breathe smoke-free air by smoking in the nightclub and knows of all the adverse health effects of tobacco and secondhand smoke but prefers smoking because he hates the stuffiness and the smell of sweat that engulfs crowded smoke-free nightclubs. The other smoker was much more interesting. He said he had heard about the possible smoke free ordinance in public places in Ghana and he wondered aloud when there was going to be a law banning the use of cheap perfumes and farting in public.He reasoned that since nobody talks about legislating where or when people are allowed to pass gas or fart, no one should be allowed to regulate smoking either. Let us think about that for a minute. As much as I would not want to talk about flatus, I will be the first to say I do not enjoy being near someone who is passing gas. Frankly, with very few exceptions (some friends I met in college), I doubt that anyone does. But how appropriate is it to compare flatus with secondhand smoke? For years, I have been trying to think of a comparison that would help people who smoke to understand how unpleasant it is to breathe their smoke. Flatus could be it! From casual observation I have determined that it takes approximately seven minutes for the average person to smoke a cigarette. As anyone who has been near a person who smokes can attest, the smell of the smoke can linger for hours. In all fairness, however, the smell is most intense during the actual smoking of the cigarette. After consulting with my physician roommate, I feel confident in saying that the normal human body can only pass gas for a maximum of three to four seconds (no matter how long it seems) at a time. As we all know, it is usually much less than that. But to fully explore this analogy, we need to somewhat equate the two unpleasantries. For a moment, try to imagine hanging out at a bar or a nightclub just trying to have fun with your new date. Then imagine that a guy at the table next to you passes gas for seven minutes without stopping. Then imagine that a minute or so after he starts, his girlfriend does the same thing for seven minutes without stopping. Not a very pleasant thought. Now imagine your husband/wife, instead of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day (20 cigarettes), passes gas 20 times per day for seven minutes at a time (I cannot bring myself to even contemplate the equivalent of a person who smokes two packs per day). It is my guess that, if it were psychologically possible for some to pass gas in the same quantity as people exhale smoke, there probably would be cries for legislation to protect the rest of the public and their partners and children. Fortunately, that is something we will never have to worry about. Remember that, although unpleasant, flatus is not even a known carcinogen, unfortunately, cigarette smoke is! Although it is sometimes humorous and often kind of not cool to take positions to the extreme, especially when talking about flatus. I hope some people will realize how humorless it is for the people who are exposed to their smoke. The issue of smell is probably the least important of all, but only defiant smokers seem to latch onto. May smokers be reminded that smoking is the greatest single self-imposed risk to health of all and breathing in secondhand smoke is equally risky. Smoking is a privilege; however, that privilege does not supersede my right to breathe clean air. Let us all advocate 100 per cent smoke-free laws in Ghana and the next time someone asks, �Do you mind if I smoke?� your response should be, �hell yeah� or �do you mind if I f**t?