Smokers can choose to smoke, but non-smokers cannot choose to breath.

A new slew of evidence has been thrown at the smokers and non-smokers alike by the Environmental Protection Agency, which puts secondhand smoke as a cancer-causing agent. The carcinogen will be treated as an agent that is as deadly as radon, asbestos and other toxic chemicals.

This report only confirms what many secondhand smoke inhalers have said for years: It is deadly. People everywhere, including smokers, should take this new information into consideration when deciding to light up when non-smokers are around.

The fact is that secondhand smoke kills. Workplaces and other public places should take this information into consideration when deciding whether to allow smoking in a public place.

No one’s health should be jeopardized by someone else, even if it is unintentional.

Many workplaces have limited smoking to certain areas. But according to this report, even this action may not be enough. The smoke can permeate a room and one can be exposed to secondhand smoke when not even knowing it.

A senseless 3,000 deaths a year are attributed to secondhand smoke when in fact this number would only be reasonable if it was zero.

Employers and owners of public places had better consider the deadly new information the EPA has compiled when allotting smoking areas. It could save someone’s life.