Smoking Should Be Banned In Australia

Smoking is recognised as the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. It is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, renal disease and eye disease. Tobacco contains the powerfully addictive stimulant nicotine, which can make smoking a regular and long-term habit that is not easy to quit (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Statistics show

The National Tobacco Campaign is an anti-smoking campaign that was introduced under the Australian Government Department of Health and Australian National Preventative Health Agency; it aims to assist smokers to quit. The National Tobacco Campaign was introduced in 1997 when statistics indicated a stalling in the steady decline of tobacco usage. It is amongst Australia's most concentrated and persistent mass media tobacco-control campaign. An advantage of this campaign was the cooperation in its expansion and operation between the national, state and territory governments and non-government organisations. This case study intends on outlining how this campaign was executed. Information on the National Tobacco Campaign can be found on http://www.quitnow.gov.au/internet/quitnow/publishing.nsf/Content/home.

“Smoking rates have halved in Australians over the past 30 years, falling below 16%. Except for in Indigenous populations, smoking rates have remained at more than twice this level, with even higher rates reported in remote communities” (RACGP, 2013) The inequality that has been faced by Indigenous people is still at an unacceptable level, and has “been identified as a human rights concern by the United Nations” (Dick, 2007). Smoking is a major issue because, “it is the most preventable contributor to the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples” (Ivers, 2011). “Smoking contributes to 17% of the life expectancy gap” (Australian Government: Department for Health and Welfare, 2011). The socio-economic disadvantage faced by Indigenous people leads to the addiction of tobacco, which can be caused by many factors including; their position on the social gradient, education, social exclusion, their employment status and their social support. There is a lack of developed personal skills on the health risks of tobacco, “some Aboriginals don’t identify smoking as a health issue” (Korff, 2014), due to the history of Aboriginal people around smoking. As well as first hand smoke, passive smoking also contributes to poor health, especially for children. Smoking is the major cause for heart disease, stroke, some cancers, lung diseases and a variety of other conditions (HealthInfoNet.ecu.edu.au, 2013). “If we could reduce tobacco consumption levels

Australia is the world leader in tobacco control, as they became the first country that implemented plain package policy. Since December 2012, all tobacco products which are traded and brought to Australia must be in plain packaging in order to implement the National Tobacco Strategy (NTS) 2012 – 2018. (National Tobacco Strategy, 2012, p.27) The range of policies including health signs on packaging, mass media campaigns, bans on tobacco promotion, price increases, and controls on smoking and access to tobacco were implemented (ibid, p.1). As a result, 2014-2015 data shows that 14.5 percent aged 18 years and above were daily smokers (2.6 million adults), dropped from 16 percent in 2011-12. This reduction is a continuation of the trend over the past two decades. In 2001, 22.4 percent of adults smoked daily, while 23.8% of adults smoked daily in 1995 (Australian Bureau of Statistic, 2015).

The negative health effects of tobacco use have been well established. Tobacco use has been shown to cause acute and chronic respiratory disease, heart disease, many types of cancer, and is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in the United States, causing an estimated 443,000 deaths per year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2004). As the dangers of smoking have become better understood, reducing the number of people who smoke has become a major focus for those interested in public health. Efforts to restrict the advertisement and sale of tobacco, implement public smoking bans, and educate citizens through public service announcements have all had a sizeable effect on smoking rates in the U.S. In Fact, over

Smoking is an activity that has been around for many years for people to use and adapt into their lifestyle. It is a tool that many people use to help reduce the stresses of life and put them in a comfortable position that enables them to cope with the hectic lifestyle they are living. However, smoking has been scientifically proven to cause many types of cancer, the most common being lung cancer resulting in numerous deaths across the United States. According to BBC, "Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease" (BBC, 2). Evidently, the benefits and drawbacks of smoking have been debated for many years, and only recently have some countries have placed a ban in public places such as Britain and the United

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,

The sale of cigarettes should be made illegal in Australia. This statement is made because of the dangerous and repugnant consequences in which follow the investment of cigarettes. Consequences which after use, can vary from losing hundreds of dollars each month, to suffering from minor issues such as bad breath, to obtaining a majorly severe illness such as heart disease or even cancer. The importance of being able to prevent these possible outcomes needs to be recognised, as it does affect many individuals daily, and to a great extent. Every year, 15,000 Australians die due to illnesses from long term smoking. Is this really acceptable within our nation?

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

In Australia, tobacco is the largest single preventable cause of diseases and death (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). According to the National drug strategy household survey 2013, the prevalence of daily smoking in Australian population over 14

The implementation of tobacco-control policy in Australia has a significant reduction in smoking prevalence for Australian aged 14 years and older from 24.3% in 1991 to 15.1% in 2010.1 This placing Australia among the lowest in the world.2 A remarkable exception is the most disadvantaged groups including the Australia’s Indigenous, among whom tobacco smoking rate reaches 47,7% in 2013.3 The uneven distribution of the effectiveness of tobacco control policy among Indigenous Australian brings repercussion in steepening social gradient in tobacco use which may lead to tobacco stigmatization.4

Tobacco users seem to forget that the actions don’t only affect them but also people around them. They might have decided that they don5t view the dangers of tobacco use as important but people around them that decided not to risk their lives are affected by their actions through secondhand smoking. Secondhand smoking is a threat to the public’s physical,

National Tobacco Campaign: During 1980s and early 1990s a steady reduction in smoking prevalence was observed, therefore a National Tobacco campaign was developed (Hill DJ, 1998). This campaign targeted smokers aged 18- 40 years. The evaluation of National Tobacco campaign shows significant reduction in prevalence of smoking among Australian adults (AIHW, 2005) . A decline from 23.5 % in May 1997 to 20.4% in November 2000 was seen in campaign survey (Wakefield M, 2004). Overall the campaign survey shows

Have you ever been in a situation where you try to walk in a building, but there are people smoking at the entrance, and you does not want to breathe in those toxic airs. Therefore, you try to hold your breath and walk pass them to get inside the building. Reason why I mention this, it is because Smoking is one of the major cause of preventable deaths, smoking also causes many illnesses for people. According to the Center Of Disease Control and Prevention reported that 46 million people in the American who are age of 18 and older smoke cigarettes, and there are more than 480,000 smoking related deaths per year in the United States. Smoking is does not just put the smokers at risk, but also people around them. According to the Center Of Disease Control and Prevention since 1964, approximately around 2.500.000 non- smokers died because of exposure to second hand smoke I think that smoking should be banned completely in home, worksite, and public place around the world to reduce the cause of deaths and pollution.

Smoking trends in high socio-economic and industrialised western areas have declined, but in low to middle income areas they have increased. "In Australia, daily cigarette smoking has declined by 0.6 percentage points per year over a similar time (from 22.4% of adults aged 18 + years in 2001 to 14.5% in 2015)" ref 10. Living in poverty and using tobacco products only worsens people's conditions as there is less available money to spend on necessities such as food, water, proper shelter, warm clothing and proper education. This means that food security decreases and becomes more common as money spent on smoking increases. In New South Wales there is a distinct difference in the amount from income earned spent on smoking between high and low income earners. High income earners spent nearly 3% compared with low income earners that spent 20% of their income on smoking. Where people live is also a determinant of smoking. In 2014 to 2015, people living in outer regional and remote areas of Australia had higher rates of daily smoking with 20.9% compared with those people in inner regional areas at 16.7% or major cities 13.0%. (Australian Buero of Statistics). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in 2008 had a much higher rate of daily smoking at 47.7%. (Australian National Preventive Health Agency (ANPHA), Evidence Brief: Smoking and Disadvantage 2013). Considering all these determinants with a poorly planned and funded environment, quitting smoking becomes nearly impossible hence prevention strategies should be employed to help reduce the prevalence of tobacco use and eventually cease the sale of tobacco