Negative Externalities Of Cigarette Smoking

Smoking is something that happens every day in our life. People can easily find someone smoking in some street corners, even in public places like train station, hospital, dormitory. It is not strange if you cross the road and see a mom who is enjoying her cigarette in front of her child. It is a kind of action that has become a part of our society and it accidentally makes people think that smoking is normal and it is just a habit and people do not feel like they have to stop it. Even some people are aware of the negative impacts of smoking they still ignore it and let it happen. People used to have the same

History has proven that government penalties, in the form of taxes, deter smoking. The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, Reducing Tobacco Use, found that raising tobacco-product prices decreases the prevalence of tobacco use, and tobacco tax increases produce significant long-term improvements in health. From its review of existing research, the report concluded that raising tobacco taxes is one of the most effective tobacco prevention and control strategies (7). Along with price increases, mass-media campaigns and smoking bans have made cigarette smoking pretty much unacceptable in today’s society. “Today, approximately 22 percent of adults age twenty-two and older are smokers, compared with 33 percent in 1979” (Thorpe 1440). It is clear, from these examples, the use of penalties to deter the unhealthy behavior of smoking is a successful intervention.

Consequences also reach people nonsmokers who are exposed to smoke even involuntarily. Unfortunately, more than 126 million of Americans who don’t smoke are still exposed to the harmful effects of tobacco, whether in their homes by a family member who smokes, or on the streets and in public places by strangers who smoke (CDC, 2007). And the result of this exposure, can be seen in the data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) who reports that more than 600,000 million of deaths are a result of passive smoking, and in 2004, 28% of the children deaths were consequence of second-hand smoke in 2004 (WHO, 2014).

Many drugs are used, misused, and abused in American society today. Some of these carry stigma in the general population, forcing users into an underground drug subculture. Others are accepted and almost promoted under certain circumstances. Tobacco is one of those drugs. Tobacco will be discussed in the context of cigarette smoking. This is not to undermine the existence or danger of other forms of tobacco, but instead to have an exhaustive discussion of cigarette smoking and its societal impact. Cigarettes are a means of inhaling tobacco, where it enters the lungs and is absorbed through the blood vessels, traveling to the heart, from which it is finally pumped to the brain (Hogan, Gabrielsen, Luna, and Grothaus 2003:76). Cigarettes are detrimental to society because they not only affect the user who chooses to smoke; they impact people around them through second-hand and residual smoke. The damage done by cigarettes is not impossible to address. Successful prevention measures are already in place, but this paper intends to suggest other more direct measures, especially related to statutory regulations.

Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, killing more Americans than HIV, drug and alcohol abuse, suicides, murders and car accidents combined. There are numerous campaigns such as D.A.R.E. and “Swipe Left” to help persuade us out of using tobacco products. Sayings like “Not even once” have even become cliché. However, studies have shown that one cigarette is all it takes to get addicted. Despite popular belief, smokeless tobacco is addictive as well. Big tobacco companies are famous for telling lies. In 1996, the tobacco industry said it was riskier to drink two cups of milk a day than one cigarette. They also said cigarettes were just as addictive as salt, sugar and internet usage. Neither of these are true, as it is the most addictive of all legal drugs. That being said, cigarettes are only the tip of the iceberg to the major problems that tobacco causes. Tobacco products have an astonishing amount of cons, to accompany very few, petty pros like “it makes me feel better for a few minutes.” Not only do cigarettes hurt the smoker, but they hurt the ones closely surrounding the smoker, especially small children. There are also a great deal of unexpected environmental issues that come with tobacco products and its industry, such as deforestation, greenhouse gasses, and fires. Because of these destructive reasons, we propose that all tobacco products should be illegal.

Through extensive research and personal experience smoking is killing consumers and non-consumers. With effective solutions and implementation we can end the overwhelming number of involuntary deaths caused by third parties. In addition invest the billions of dollars healthcare spents on preventable diagnosis due to second-hand smoke on something else.

Tobacco products are ever so threatening in the United States, where according to U.S. Food and Drug administration 25% of the deaths in men and women age 35 to 69 are caused from smoking related diseases (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2017). This number was even higher among substance abusers and people with mental health problems (Bandiera, Anteneh, Le, Delucchi, & Guydish, 2015, p.1). Even if someone does not die from smoking cigarettes they are at increased risk of contracting an otherwise preventable disease. Due to an exponentially growing amount of people becoming affected with diseases related to tobacco use, the United States government were forced to take action to try and stop the progression of these horrible diseases. These actions have come to no avail, since people who are addicted to cigarettes are not going to stop buying them just because of a price increase. Banning the production and distribution of tobacco products will contribute to a

In the article ‘Cigarette tax hike sparks panic buying’, Hall (2010) discusses the effects of tax increase on cigarettes. The government has decided to raise the tax on cigarettes by 25%, costing $2.16 more on a pack of 30 cigarettes. This government intervention is an attempt to stop people from smoking and reduce the health bill caused by those who smoke. The increase in tax is expected to save $5 billion more of the people’s tax dollars and the government decided that it will be put into a better use for its health and hospitals reparations. This contractionary fiscal policy is expected to reduce the total tobacco consumption by approximately six percent and drive down the number of smokers by 87,000.

are preventable (US Department of Health & Human Services, 2014). Additionally, the health care costs of smoking amount to $96 billion each year (Barendregt et al., 1997). Yet, this is an underestimate of the total costs of smoking because of the many externalities associated with cigarette consumption. Clean-up and secondhand smoke are two common examples of these externalities. For instance, cigarette butts

There are over 1.1 billion smokers in the world-- fifteen percent of the entire population. It is said that one in every three adults is a chronic smoker. Even in America, one of the most progressive countries in the world, forty-two million (about 12.5%) people smoke chronically. Given this astonishing number, it is no surprise that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, responsible for one in every five deaths. Only to add to that, more than 16 million Americans live with a smoking related disease. Since the 1960’s the United States government has attempted to curb these numbers as much as possible; from settling cases in the supreme court to passing new laws and regulations to counter the use of tobacco,

Tobacco used is a major epidemic around the world. Many people start this terrible habit because stress, personal issues, or in the case of teenagers to fit in. They do not realize that when they smoke they are actually poisoning their body, and ignore the many health risks it poses not only to them, but those around them. According to the CDC (2016) smoking causes 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and women, and 80% of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Due to these reasons Companies are being required to include warning labels in the packaging. I personally agree with these regulations. The warning labels on Cigarette package describe the harmful effects of tobacco use. Their graphic images are intended to inform people

The marginal benefit and marginal cost of cigarettes are in competitive market equilibrium without government intervention, however, the negative social cost of smoking to society would likely lead to market failure without the involvement of the government (reference). Tobacco not only affects the health of its consumers, it can also affect the health of non-smokers who involuntarily inhale second-hand smoke (reference). With the continuation of tobacco consumption, society faces increased tax rates, a loss of productivity and an opportunity cost from patients suffering tobacco-induced health problems, potentially robbing others with unpreventable conditions from the medical resources and treatment they require. Each year Australians spend

One of the best known consumer protection acts was the first of many regulations imposed on the tobacco industry. The tobacco industry flourished during the Baby Boomer years, but were soon to be curbed by the federal government. Beginning in 1965, the U.S. government first mandated cigarette warning labels and, “as evidence of cigarettes' harmful health effects grew, it battled the tobacco industry more and more vigorously,” (Strain, 2016). Congress pushed the issue further in 1967, by passing the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act, requiring cigarette packages contain the statement, “Warning: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Hazardous to Your Health.” “This advertising was also restricted and culminated

Cigarette smoking and tobacco usage is a negative externality of consumption, an economic activity that imposes costs on a third party for which the consumer doesn’t account for the costs. In this case, those who are passive smoking, diseases and health issues are the costs towards them. Negative externalities are one of the sources of market failure, a situation where, in any given market, the quantity of a product demanded by consumers does not equate to the quantity supplied by suppliers. This is a direct result of a lack of certain economically ideal factors, which prevents equilibrium. Negative externalities occur due to the overprovision of demerit goods, a good or service whose consumption is considered unhealthy, degrading, or otherwise socially undesirable due to the perceived negative effects on the consumers themselves. They are over-consumed and over-produced.

However our concern here is not only about the cigarette as a product but with the ethics of cigarettes as well, that affect the social process of marketing. This is because marketing process makes things worse and is also considered as unethical, and as a result has a significant negative impact on the societal welfare. Multinational tobacco companies apply sophisticated strategies ( such as putting flavor in the cigarettes and placing cigarettes in the shops near the sweets to make them more appealing) and invest huge amounts of money for marketing, in order to establish brand familiarity and future loyalty among young peoplem, to secure profits in the long run. 'The tobacco epidemic is a man-made international health crisis, created and sustained by multinational tobacco corporations.' (Yach, Brinchmann, Bellet page 2).