By the time I was 17, I was diagnosed with COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). It is a life threatening lung disease I developed as a result of chronic bronchitis and some times pneumonia every year since I was 5. Most people get COPD from smoking, but I developed COPD even though I have never smoked and have rarely been around anyone who smoked. Since we have moved to Florida, I have not had pneumonia. From April 2004 until April 2005, I did not have bronchitis due to the fact I took four different doses of steroids (prescribed to help my breathing).  After getting bronchitis around May 2005, I went through July 4, 2006 without getting bronchitis.  That is a little more than a year! 

Hopefully, you see that protecting those like me, whose lives are threatened by breathing cigarette smoke are simply the canaries in the coal mine. Cigarette smoke in particular bothers me, even when it is on somebody's clothing. It is a sign that the air is being poisoned when people like me cannot breathe. Every person can make a difference in the fight for breathable air!