Thank you for the editorial regarding the new smoke-free laws. The Sun Journal did a fantastic job of bringing forward the real issue again: the workers who have been left to inhale secondhand smoke while most others have enjoyed a smoke-free working environment for years.

I have been a bartender for many years and have had to work in my share of smoke-filled bars. I developed asthma a few years ago and now find cigarette smoke is a trigger for asthma attacks. The pub I work in chose to become smoke-free a few years ago, and I am fortunate for this. My health surely would have deteriorated because, in my neck of the woods, good jobs are hard to come by. I would have been forced to choose between my health and my job.

Most of the smokers that frequent the pub are very polite and either step outside to smoke or wait until they leave. I know it can be inconvenient to step outside when it is cold or raining. I thank the smokers who do so for their kind consideration for others.

I have always had the opinion that I weighed the pros and cons and made a decision not to smoke. That is my choice. But when someone smokes in front of me, I have no choice at all. This new law is for the workers and finally securing us a smoke-free workplace.

Susan Mac Isaac-Gallant, Rumford

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