Smoking is something that millions of Americans do every day and companies profit millions of dollars every year through the sales of cigarettes, but at what cost? Five dollars a pack for a cancered lung and a heart attack. A deadly addiction comparable to heroin or cocaine, cigarettes are the only product that efficiently kills more than five million people year -- one million in the Americas-- and is still legal. The damage that it causes does not surface until years later after habitual use. The government should issue a federal ban on cigarettes because of the adverse health effects.. Smoking is a dangerous and addictive habit; each year about 440,000 people perish in the United States due to tobacco smoking (Maugh). From those …show more content…
For the past few years, many people think that nicotine dependence does not begin until a few years of excessive smoking, nicotine withdrawal only happens to those who smoke at least five cigarettes a day, and the only way to combat the withdrawal symptoms is to keep nicotine in their bloodstream. Novices begin with smoking a cigarette once a day to fight the cravings and over time, the dependence grows with four to five a cigarettes a day and eventually smokers have a steady supply of cigarettes and smoke ten to twenty cigarettes per day to stop the withdrawals (Gardner).
Nicotine working with carbon monoxide causes heart disease that is associated with smoking (Novick). These two chemicals together accelerate the deposition of cholesterol in arteries eventually leading to arteriosclerosis, a disease that reduces blood flow. With the blood flow weakened, supply of oxygen lacks and as this happens; the heart’s need for oxygen increases by the stimulant effect of nicotine on the rate, forces the heart to contract and the lack of oxygen damage the heart, and increases the chance of a heart attack. In addition, many of the chemicals contained in cigarettes are items that are in your house. For example, Ammonia --which is contained in tobacco smoke--, is also in toilet cleaner and it flavors and frees nicotine from tobacco turning it into a gas (Johnson). Tobacco also has Benzene, Acetone,
Almost two-thirds of the smokers had one or more symptoms of nicotine dependence, and of these, almost two-thirds said that they had their first symptom before they began smoking every day or that the symptoms had made them start smoking
Recently, the company I work for had to renew its insurance policy. To our surprise, our premiums increased by 60%. And, when we began shopping around, we learned no other company would give us any better of a deal. Doing some research on the matter, I discovered our company wasn 't alone in this. Most other companies were also experiencing a drastic increase in their premiums. And, some were even dropping their insurance just so their employees could take the state sponsored insurance instead. At the pace this trend is continuing, most Americans will find themselves without adequate medical insurance and, since they probably won 't be able to pay the bills out of pocket, our health care industry will suffer. After much thought and study, I 've concluded the best solution to the problem is banning tobacco use in the United States. I 'm not just talking about banning smoking in public. I am referring to making it illegal to sell tobacco products in this country and treating those who sell cigarettes as criminals. I know this isn 't going to be popular among the estimated 26% of Americans who currently smoke cigarettes. But, that doesn 't mean it isn 't the right decision. Let 's look at the facts. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Americans spend roughly $75.5 billion in health care costs directly related to people who smoke. That is in addition to nearly $100 billion in lost productivity due to smoking related illnesses and deaths. In 1997,
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.
Smoking cigarettes causes more deaths than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, and firearm- related incidents combined. Some people say that banning cigarettes would be bad because the government makes a lot of money from the tax revenues. Or that it would increase illegal trade. But based off of the fact that millions of people die each year, cigarettes should be banned because it causes many health issues, it affects a lot of people, and it costs the government a lot of money.
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
Millions of people are smokers in the United States. “In 2011, an estimated 19.0% (43.8) million United States adults were current cigarette smokers” (“Cigarette Smoking in the”). This number does not include all the underage smokers that are unaccounted. Cigarette smoking has very serious and fatal side effects. Some of these side effects include asthma, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, COPD, and Buerger’s disease. Tobacco use is a preventable death sentence. Smokers are not only harming themselves but the people around them breathing the second-hand smoke. “Each year, about 46,000 nonsmokers in the United States die from heart disease caused by second-hand smoke” (“Cigarette Smoking in the”). This number is
Proposed bills are being passed around in many different states to ban the use of cigarette smoking. Banning the controlled substance, nicotine, will put people in jail or up to a 6,250 fine if they continue to use the drug. Even though banning cigarette smoking will be hard to do, many civilians argue a good reason to ban the drug is because of all the lives that tobacco takes. Many places and manufacture companies have already banned and discourage tobacco use on their property due to the dangerous effects tobacco causes. The effects are smoking are very hazardous and causes many diseases. Clinical directors and Health Initiative Programs explain the causes and effects cigarette smoking causes. The ultimate goal is to have the world free
Tobacco usage remains the main preventable reason for loss of life and illness within the US, with almost 443,000 fatalities taking place yearly due to smoking cigarettes and contact with second-hand cigarette smoke (CDC, 2008). Furthermore, almost ninety percent of adult people who smoke start using cigarettes from age eighteen years (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2012).
One of the ingredients in tobacco is a mood-altering drug called nicotine. Nicotine is a habit forming drug that spreads to your brain in seconds. It’s a central nervous system stimulant. Some people say nicotine makes them feel energized and focused while others say it makes them feel calm and relaxed. Nicotine is extremely addictive. When the nicotine effect goes away it causes them to crave more. Physical withdrawal from smoking can impair your mental functioning and make you feel nervous, angry, and depressed. Withdrawal can also cause headaches and sleep difficulties.
if cigarettes were banned in the United States, the government could apend the money currently used to pay medical bills, on more necessary causes. Instead of this money being used for diseases which were knowingly brought upon by the smoker him or herslf, this money could be used in finding a cure for diseases that are not preventable. Perhaps the saddest effect of smoking is that on pregnant smokers and their babies. When pregnant women smoke, their babies are being forced to smoke, too. many women begin smoking at an early age and find it hard to quit even during pregnancy. Information given from Health Watch discribes smoking as a harmful gas and deadly substance thats passes throughout baby's blood
Even though there are thousands of smokers in the U.S., we need to consider how much it will help to ban public smoking in more places. Since 2000 over half of the states
Not only was smoking seen as a nuisance, but the act could land a person jobless as well. The New York Times released an article in 1907 reporting the decline in businesses hiring smokers. By 1909, twelve states engaged in the temperance movement, also banned cigarettes. With a growing desire for a clean society, the public labeled cigarettes as a nuisance that must be banned
Cigarette have been around since before I have been born, and the abuse cigarettes get is very high. Most people do not realize what abusing a cigarette can do to you, then again most people do not care. There has been advertisements about why its bad for you. There has been rallies trying to shut down company's, and there has been people going beyond there own risk to inform people. In my CTC campus, they have even band cigarette smoking around the campus. So it says a lot about cigarette, if there are so many things against it. Would you smoke a cigarette, after knowing everything it can do to you?
Imagine we lived in a world where smoking was banned… we could prevent, life-threatening diseases, premature demise, the death of wildlife, and 2.5 million losses caused by the exposure to secondhand smoke. (“Tobacco Facts and Figures” 1) Although cigarette smoking has decreased from 12.6% to 7%, 42 million Americans still continue to smoke regularly. (“Tobacco-Related Cancers Fact Sheet” 1) America’s media has a way of glamorizing this toxic product and consequently influencing more individuals to jeopardize their lives and everything around them in order for people to perceive them in a “cool” manner. All in all, smoking should be prohibited in the United States because it negatively impacts society as a whole. Cigarettes not only causes deadly diseases in the
Cigarette smoking is one of the worst possible things you could do to your body. Cigarettes kill roughly “480,000 people a year in the United states” according to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So why do we still allow them to be sold? Why are we advertising cigarettes in a way that makes younger people want to start smoking? How is that the government know for a fact the cigarettes cause serious health and death, but still does almost nothing about it? In this essay I am going to tell you the facts about why cigarettes should be banned in the U.S. I'm going to talk about the effects smoking cigarettes has on the human body. How smokers cost the healthcare system almost 200 billion dollars a year. And how tobacco businesses are spending billions of dollars a year to keep people smoking