Smoking has been around for centuries, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that anti-smoking campaigns really began to take off in America. Some Pennsylvania residents gave differing opinions during an informal survey earlier this week as to whether smoking indoors should be illegal.

The Pennsylvania Clean Indoor Air Act regulates smoking in public places across the commonwealth. While there are certain exceptions to the law, it encourages owners to prohibit smoking indoors even if they are not required to do so.

Todd Pousley, 30, a graphic designer and non-smoker, believes that smoking should not be allowed inside public buildings.  “The ill effects of smoking are well documented,” Pousley said, “and non-smokers shouldn’t be subjected to second-hand smoke when they are in a public building.”

According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 4.2 million Americans smoke, which is about 18.1 percent of adults aged 18 years or older. The CDC also said that although the overall amount of smokers in the United States has declined over the past decade, more than 16 million Americans suffer from smoking-related diseases.

Secondhand smoke contributes to this number. That is the smoke that is breathed out by someone who is smoking, and it contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including hundreds that are toxic and 70 that can cause cancer, according to the CDC.

Carol Sarokas Johnson, 63, a registered nurse, has seen firsthand the effects that secondhand smoke has on people. “I have taken care of too many people who had damage from secondhand smoke to the point of dying,” Johnson said. “They didn’t choose to be affected by smoking. Their fate was condemned by those around them.”

A current anti-smoking campaign that is pointed at teens, The Truth, sends a message that the current generation of teenagers can put an end to teen smoking and eventually smoking altogether. According to the organization’s website, only 9 percent of current teens smoke, which is down from 23 percent in 2000.

University of Pittsburgh student and smoker, Josh, 19, has a different view on smoking in public buildings. Josh believes public buildings should allow smoking indoors but should make it well-known prior to entering each building. “If you don’t want to be around the smoke, don’t go into the building,” he said. “Simple as that.”

Private buildings are part of the exceptions under the CIAA. The only time that smoking is prohibited in private homes, residences or vehicles is during the time that they are being used to provide care services for adults or children or to care for children in state or county custody.

Duquesne University instructor Jim can often be seen sitting on a bench outside of College Hall smoking a cigarette. “If you want to regulate what people do in their homes they should focus on the substance,” Jim said. “If it’s a legal substance, you can only regulate it so much.”

Jim remembers a time when smoking was allowed in Duquesne classrooms, but only during midterms and finals to help students relieve stress. As time went on, places to smoke on campus got “fewer and fewer” causing the amount of smoke inside the smoking rooms to become more condensed. Eventually, smoking indoors in any building on campus became against campus rules.

John, another Duquesne instructor, gave his input between puffs of his cigarette. John agrees with Jim that regulating the substance is the only way to make smoking in private homes illegal.

“Your home is your home,” John said. “You should be able to do whatever the hell you want.”