Sarah Mahler-Vossler

About the author: Sarah Mahler-Vossler has a doctorate in business from the City University of New York and has been an associate professor of management at Hartwick College in Oneonta, New York.

No conclusive evidence proves that secondhand smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke or ETS) significantly increases the risk for respiratory illnesses and heart disease among nonsmokers. The highly publicized reports on the alleged dangers of secondhand smoke are based on faulty studies and mishandled statistics. Policy makers, government agencies, and public health officials—motivated by the current smoking prohibitionist fervor —cite the few studies that back up their own foregone conclusions about ETS and ignore those revealing that the dangers of secondhand smoke are negligible.

It's a lot easier to scare people than it is to unscare...