Persuasive Speech On Secondhand Smoking

Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.

Dr. David L. Katz, A clinical professor of public health, and director of the prevention research center at Yale University School of Medicine expresses his opinion on public smoking in the following passage.

Regardless of consumer belief, smoking dramatically increases the chances of contracting many diseases - such as heart disease or high blood pressure. Although not every user experiences these diseases, it is well known that smoking can decrease one’s life time dramatically. The information given states, “It’s virtually impossible to escape the effects of tobacco” (Jordan). This stated, Jordan expresses that essentially if you use tobacco, there is a fairly high chance that one will damage his/her body in some way. Furthermore, there are many more diseases that can be contracted and the ones stated are only the most common. Continuing, the author explains the affects of smoking, “Expose to specific elements of secondhand smoke causes blood clot more easily and damages arterial lining” (Jordan). As stated, certain components in tobacco increase the chances of high blood pressure and blood clots to form in the body. Concluding, respiratory problems in young children can occur through second hand smoking, these include asthma. Children that asthma effect increases from smoke, “Asthma turns out to be about twice as common in children exposed to high levels of second hand smoke” (Secondhand Smoke: Is it a Hazard). Not only does tobacco smoke increase other diseases, it also increases the severity of diseases already contracted as shown in the previous quote. To conclude, tobacco smoke

Smoking also causes some serious respiratory diseases. Emphysema is a disease that robs a person of their ability to breathe. This disease is terminal and it kills you. It destroys a little bit of your lungs at a time so you don’t even realize there is problem. Patients who have emphysema can survive for many years with the help of oxygen tanks and special breathing exercises. Everyday activities, like shopping, cleaning, or exercising are some things that you can’t do in the later stages of emphysema. Elaine Landau says in her book “Cigarettes” that one cigarette lessens a smokers life by 7 minutes. Overall smoking is very dangerous a deadly it causes over 300,000 deaths a year in the United States. So if you’re ever offered one just remember how dangerous it is even if it only lessens your life by 7 minutes. However you don’t have to smoke to be harmed by cigarette. This leads us to the effects of secondhand smoke. Inhaling smoke from others is called passive smoking.

Unfortunately, it seems that people not only risk their life with every cigarette they smoke, but also affect everybody else who is around. Everybody can be affected by second-hand smoke.

Secondhand smoke is a volatile air pollutant that poses health risks for anyone nearby. It places children at risk for developing issues like asthma, ear and respiratory infections, and even cancer, while increasing the more obvious risks of cancer, heart disease, and stroke for the smoker.

When I think of smoking the first thing that comes to my mind is lung cancer. I could say with confidence that mostly any person that is asked about tobacco know the harm it causes to the human body or at least one of the dangers of smoking. This topic is very interesting to me because i simply don 't understand why a person becomes a frequent smoker while knowing all the harm one cigarette can do to them and others around them. Second hand smoking is also a big issue in our country because of all the smoking done in outside areas. Even if a person doesn 't smoke and is the healthiest person in the world, being around another person/people for a long time who smoke(s) frequently can cause you be very open to second hand smoke and can also give you all the same health problems a first hand smoker deals with.

Smoking is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, which are nearly one in five deaths. The problem about smoking is that not only the smokers are affected by the smoke, but non-smokers and children who are exposed to the secondhand smoke; secondhand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke, is smoke from burning tobacco products that can be inhaled from the exhaled smoke by the smoker, mainstream smoke, or sidestream smoke, which is the smoke that comes from a lighted cigar, cigarette, or pipe and is more toxic and dangerous than the smoke that comes from the

It is now known that secondhand smoke (SHS) is more toxic than firsthand smoke (FHS), posing a serious health risk to children who have no control over whether they are exposed or not. Additionally, a new potential health risk has been discovered: thirdhand exposure (THE). Thirdhand exposure occurs when nicotine and other chemicals from secondhand smoke deposit on surfaces, such as floors, walls, and tables. THE exists wherever nicotine has been smoked, creating multiple exposure routes and exposing people via. touch, ingestion, and inhalation2. Evidence has emerged showing that THE potentially poses similar health risks as SHS, but the public is skeptical about these

Thesis: It is imperative for smokers to quit, benefiting society as a whole a well as themselves.

(Internal Summary/Transition: Smoking can not only ruin your health, but also cause economic destruction. We will examine the impact of smoking on the economy.)

Secondhand smoking causes many defects for children as they grow up. As parents of young children smoke in the car, these children are exposed to this secondhand smoke frequently. According to Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), "Secondhand smoke causes numerous health problems in infants and children, including more frequent and severe asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infection, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)." As these children group up, the health problems resulting from the secondhand smoke exposure affects their lifestyle and future.

Transition to 3rd Main Point: I just talked about the causes of smoking, next I will talk about an solution

People with asthma and bronchial infection problems can face problems due to drifting tobacco smoke and cause other serious health problems in nonsmokers – without any such conditions. These serious health impacts include an elevated risk of heart diseases and lung cancer along with a range of respiratory diseases. Apart from illness, many non-smokers report discomfort in presence of the tobacco contents in air. Smokers shall understand the adverse effects of their habit on people surrounding them, among them are your near and dear ones also.

Second-hand smoking is the main way of how smoking can affect non-smokers. Just because someone is not smoking does not mean that he/she cannot contract a smoking-related disease. Families and friends of a smoker are not safe from second-hand smoke. This type of smoke is composed of the burning tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by the smoker, both of which are easily breathed in by unsuspecting people around the smoker . As studied by the CDC, second hand smoking has caused almost 2.5 million non-smokers to die from a smoking-related disease (CDC, 2013). Increased risk for heart diseases and cancer are seen in non-smokers who are frequently exposed to second-hand smoke. When we think about it, just about everybody has been at risk of second-hand smoking. No matter the existing laws or regulations about public smoking, most people can still be victims of second-hand smoke. CDC estimates that second-hand exposure causes nearly 34,000 heart diseases as of 2009 (CDC, 2009).