Cigarette Smoking Persuasive Essay

For over 50 years, the Surgeon General has been warning about the dangers of tobacco use and smoking. The most recent report, The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General, offers information and statistics related to the monetary costs and physical dangers of smoking. Although the number of people who smoke has declined, if the current rates remain the same, nearly 6 million Americans who are alive today and under the age of 18 will die prematurely from a disease related to smoking. Additionally, half of the people today who continue to smoke will die prematurely due to a smoking-related condition.

The smoking habit is the principal cause of illness, disability and death around the world. More than five million of people in the world die due to smoking habit every year. If we don’t take care of this in 2030 the amount will be ten million. Seven million of these deaths would be in poor countries.

We know this statement and we see this in advertisements, in slogans, in posters and televisions everywhere and yet smoking still the leading cause of death in America. According to Centers for Communicable diseases, 2017, smoking is still the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States. It kills more people than infectious disease, abuse, firearms, obesity and traffic accidents. Some people do not believe that smoking is harmful to them. Some people do not notice the harm at first and by the time they notice the effects, they are addicted to it already. That is why the Word Health Organization calls it as “gradual killer”. Lastly, according to Sherry McKee, the director of Yale Behavioral Pharmacology Lab, “Most of the smokers think that they can just quit easily at any time and nearly all believe that they won’t be long-term smokers”. These are some of the knowledge gaps in tobacco use.

Smoking tobacco is probably one of the worst habits humankind has developed. Originating as a tradition of the Native Americans, practiced mostly on special occasions, smoking has gradually become a kind of mass addiction. Due to the efforts of tobacco companies seeking to increase their sales, people started smoking more and more often; the evolution of a more traditional pipe to a cigarette took some time, but eventually tobacco became more affordable and easier to use (you now simply need to light it up, instead of having to always carry a tobacco pouch, stuff a pipe, puff it, and so on). As a result, deaths and health issues connected to tobacco consumption became a worldwide

According to the Healthy People 2020, each year, approximately 480,000 Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. Further, more than 16 million Americans suffer from at least one disease caused by smoking. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). The effect of cigarette smoking is alarming. Use of tobacco in the form of smoking is not only dangerous to the one who is smoking but also to a non-smoker. Tobacco harms a human physically and mentally. Major cause of lung cancer is smoking. It is important to prevent the use of tobacco because it is the largest preventable cause of diseases and death in the United States. According to Chin, Hong, Gillen, Bates and Okechukwu (2012) Blue-collar workers smoke at higher rates than white-collar workers and

Smoking is injurious to health and a preventable cause of premature death. In the U.S.; it is estimated that one in each five adults smoke currently and about 480,000 people die prematurely from diseases caused by smoking or secondhand smoke exposure. (CDC tobacco use). The economic burden of tobacco use is also significant. About $100 billion per year is spent in medical expenses and another $100 billion per year in lost productivity. There is no safe level of smoking

Smoking is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity. The exposure to tobacco smoking negatively impacts the health of an individual over time by increasing the risks of developing diseases of the respiratory and circulatory systems (Ministry of Health, 2005). In particular, smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer. With repeated exposure, inhalation of tobacco into the lungs causes a build up of tar, altering lung tissue (Cockerham, 2007; Marmot and Wilkinson, 2006). This direct use of tobacco accounts for the death of 5 million people around the world. In the United States, 444,000 deaths per year are attributed to smoking, were 13 years of life lost for a male smoker and 14.5 years lost for a female (Cockerham, 2007; WHO, 2012). In New Zealand, tobacco use is the main cause of preventable death, contributing to around 4600 deaths

It is estimated that “one out of four high school seniors and one out of three young adults under age 26 are smokers”, which adds up to 42.1 million Americans who legally smoke (Smoking). This high amount does not include minors, or people who use tobacco products other than cigarettes and cigars. This number has decreased greatly since its peak in 1964, but the health effects are still prevalent today (Health). Lung cancer is one of the most infamous results of smoking, with 82.4% of all lung cancer cases attributing to smoking (Facts). “Of former smokers in the U.S., 1,154,000 have a cancer other than lung cancer from smoking” (Facts). This includes oral cancer, diagnosed especially among users of smokeless tobacco, usually associated with teeth loss and gum recession (Health). Other common illnesses that correlate with tobacco use include bronchitis, emphysema, and pneumonia, which cause 113,100 American deaths annually (Facts). The Secretary of Health and Human Services states “This year alone, nearly one-half million adults will still die prematurely because of smoking…and if we continue on our current trajectory, 5.6 million children alive today who are younger than 18 years of age will die prematurely” (Health). Imagine how many lives would be spared had the nation not succumbed to the addiction of

“Scientific evidence has established that smoking is a cause of cancers of the lung, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), oral cavities, oesophagus, bladder, kidneys, pancreas, stomach, cervix and the blood.” ("Cigarettes and Cancer."). The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, has estimated that, “443,000 smoking-related deaths occur annually in the U.S.” (Kennedy, Madeline). The amount of deaths that have occurred so frequently due to an addiction that the government has enforced should be enough evidence to prove that it should be banned.

Tobacco use is by far the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2011). More deaths can be attributed to tobacco use than to alcohol, drugs, firearms, motor vehicle crashes, and HIV/AIDS combined (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011). In the United States, 90% of lung cancer cases were from smoking cigarettes and 38,000 deaths per year are from secondhand

“In the year of 2013, 17.8% of the people in the United States smoked cigarettes” (Gholipour). That is the lowest number we have ever seen, but there are still several people at risk of getting cancer, internal damage dealing with the heart, and physical damage that is visible to others. “Smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S. This is nearly one in five deaths” (Health Effects of). If a smoker quits, his or her risks for these diseases and damages immediately decrease.

Approximately half of all continuing, long-term smokers will die prematurely as a result of their addiction. These tobacco-related diseases and deaths are

I witnessed dreams shattered, unfortunate friends and brother. I witnessed health deterioration, my adored father. I witnessed death in the family, my dear grandmother. I witnessed environmental suffering. Do you want to experience my pain? Absolutely not! Victims are too aware of the effects of cigarette smoking and it is why I have decided to speak up against this deadly outbreak. You too should speak up. Your stories, stories of the victims of cigarette smoking, are important and need to be heard. You too hold the power to change the

My grandfather had smoked for many years when he was younger. Now that he is older he has become a victim of lung cancer. Luckily he survived, however, it was a scary time for me and my family. Tobacco has a huge history on how it started and what it is now. It has been around for over 8000 years, but the first medical reports submitted accusing cigarettes and tobacco of the cause of lung cancer only came out in the 1920’s. Many newspaper editors refused to announce this new discovery because they did not want to hurt the tobacco companies who advertised heavily in the media. Today’s machines produce about 9,000 cigarettes per minute while in the beginning they only produced 200 per minute. Now more and more people are starting to smoke due to tobacco companies selling cigars. Tobacco companies should be blamed for young people getting addicted to smoking and experiencing a higher risk of lung cancer.

According to a study completed back in 1972, seventy-five percent of one hundred and six smoker had emphysema and nonsmokers lived an average of 5 years longer (NCBI, 2010). Also, the proportion of emphysema in the lungs increases with the length of time smoked (NCBI, 2010). Studies like these have proved that smoking causes emphysema and decreases the life span. Since then, detrimental effects of smoking have been made public and are now common knowledge; it is surprising that there is still an astounding amount of individuals that continue to partake in this dreadful habit. As nurses, it is our responsibility to educate patients, not only about the effects of smoking, but about ways to quit. Since it seems common knowledge