Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned?

Making tobacco illegal could make some people scared about what will happen to the economy within the United States. According

Tobacco has been around in the world for over 2.5 million years. It was not until a few hundred years ago when the tobacco industry decided to put these crops into use and conjure up tobacco products for the community. A popular tobacco product in society is cigarettes, as they are cheap and simple to use. As long as one is over eighteen, acquiring cigarettes is a straightforward process for a reasonable price, albeit the sin tax. It was not until recently when cigarettes became widely controversial due to the plant containing nicotine, an addictive drug to the body. Aside from containing nicotine and other hazardous chemicals to the body, cigarettes also cause a whole host of health implications

This figure is up 1billion pounds when compared to the same figure last year, which was 1.7billion. And the only reason it is not higher is because so many smokers have given up in recent years – a fall from 12 million to 9 million. Also the government has made significant cuts to the healthcare budget (Around £800million between 2010 and 2012) (BBC News Channel, 2009). Therefore, the NHS should not pay for smoking related diseases. However, firstly, Smokers contributed to the UK economy by 10billion According to statistics from the Tobacco Manufacturers’ Association (TMA) in the 2006/07 financial year in revenue tax (Tma, 2017). According to lobby group forest argues that smokers pay over £9billion a year in tobacco tax. It has also been claimed that the government has made tobacco manufacturers not allowed to have any kind of trademarks on any of their smoking product its illegal. It has been stated tax revenue from tobacco in 2012/2013 amounted to £12.3billion - £9.7billion in excise duty plus 2.6billion in VAT. In addition, on a usual box of 20 cigarettes the total tax burden of £6.98 accounts for 82% of the recommended retail price (RRP) of £8.50. On some of the least expensive brands the total tax burden accounts for up to 90% of the RRP (Tma, 2017). Therefore, the NHS should pay for smoking related diseases as smokers have already contributed by paying taxes on tobacco and taxes that go to the NHS

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.

This year alone cigarettes will end up killing over 500,000 Americans, and many more will suffer from different types of cancer, circulatory, and respiratory system diseases, due to smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes have been known to cause these illnesses for a long time. The FDA has proven that nicotine, one of the main chemicals in cigarettes, is addictive. This explains why smokers continue to use cigarettes even though they are aware of the health dangers that come from smoking cigarettes. Researchers have also found out that when people smoke by pregnant women it causes the deaths of over 4,000 babies and 110,000 miscarriages. The only way to prevent death by cigarettes would be to ban them.

Smoking should be prohibited in the United states because its one of the largest causes of

Smoking is the inhalation and exhalation of the smoke of burning tobacco. Historically, it was thought that smoking was harmless, but more modern, clinical and laboratory research proves that it is, in fact, extremely dangerous. Tobacco cigarettes should be illegal in the United States due to their plethora of negative effects on the population and the environment. If cigarettes were banned, the country would be a much better place. Pollution, diseases and fatalities would dramatically decrease, while productivity, financial stability and overall health would increase.

In the article “Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition” by Robert Procter states that “Another objection commonly raised to any call for a ban is that this will encourage smuggling, or even organized crime.” I can agree with this statement although this author is for banning this statement brings out a huge issue that could potentially arise from banning tobacco. If there is a will there will be a way. Another outrageous idea I read in the article called “Regulatory Approaches to Ending Cigarette-Caused Death and Diseases in the United States” by Richard Daynard was the fact that the government would give tobacco companies a limit to how many cigarettes that can produce each year. By doing this it stated by the end of 2015 “it would become unlawful for a cigarette manufacturer to produce more than two-thirds of the brands baseline.”. So not only would the indoor-outdoor smoking bans be in effect the government would now be regulating the amount of cigarettes produced in the United States. Therefore I feel as strongly as others about banning smoking rights. I am a non-smoker myself and as long as you aren’t purposefully blowing smoke in my face, feel free to do as you please. While you can, that is.

Cigarettes should be illegal because they are detrimental to the American economy. A study by Ekpu (2014) found that “As part of the indirect (non-health-related) costs of smoking, the total

That is the only reason why cigarettes are legal. The government makes billions of dollars a year from selling cigarettes. About 25% of the cost of a pack of cigarettes goes to federal and local revenue. They

Tobacco companies make a lot of profit on cigarettes, and they want shoppers to keep buying their product. They only concern about how much money they are going to make; they do not care about how it will affect other people’s health. An average pack of cigarette is about five dollars, but imagine smoking about two packs day that would be three thousand three hundred and sixty dollars a year. According to Werner, "supporters of FDA bill cited figures from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention that smokers coat the country $96 billion a year in direct health care costs, and an additional $97 billion a year in lost productivity". Smokers are not only spending their own money on cigarettes, but they are also spending tax payer’s money on

Spending money on smoking is too much and leads to nothing, and there are no benefits that people can get from smoking. Smoking can hit personal finances and smokers are burning their money for no reason. Instead of using money to get cigarettes, people can donate to non-government organizations to wipe out poverty and change people’s lives. Smoking is a major factor that is destroying the environment. Smoking cigarettes is bad for the air. People who do not smoke have to breathe the bad air around the smokers. Smoking needs to be banned in public to let other people breathe the fresh air. Most Americans are exposed to outdoor and indoor air that can cause cancer and other serious health problems. Smoking is a serious problem that needs to be taken care of. If we want a strong environment, clean environment, and a good public health, we need to ban smoking once and for all.

The American lung association estimated if the cost of one pack cost $5.5 then the cost of production for that pack would be $18. Cleary the tobacco industry does not do any good to the economy, it only taking over 3 times the amount from the economy. Although some states have been trying to cover health expenses by rising taxes to pay for healthcare however it will never be high enough to cover them. In addition to this, the use of tobacco decrease workers’ productivity. For instance, a smoker would be absent from work and still getting paid and their absences usually last longer because their health conditions would be more complicated. It is clearly proven that the expenses does not match the revenues therefore it would be more profitable

The smoking of tobacco has continued to have an unfavorable influence on our health care system in association with spending. In recent studies and surveys, researchers discovered approximately $170 billion dollars of healthcare spending is paid towards diseases produced by tobacco smoke (Kennedy). A large sum of the money put towards tobacco-related illnesses is also taken from government sources. Making smoking tobacco illegal would allow the government to save billions of dollars, money that could be used for important needs in our country. Roads, bridges, and government projects could all be funded with smoking becoming illegal. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than $156 billion in lost productivity is due

As discussed on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, “tobacco use costs the United States billions of dollars each year. The total economic cost of smoking is more than $300 billion a year, which include nearly $170 billion spent on tobacco-related