Tobacco Should Be Banned

In the U.S. almost all of the things harmful to humans are banned except for alcohol and smoking. In Sally Chen’s Smoking Is Bad For Everyone So It Should Be Illegal, Chen makes her case against smoking and other types of tobacco consumption. Chen states that Smoking and tobacco should be banned because “It’s an addictive drug that not only harms the user but everyone else through secondary smoke.”

Consumption of Tobacco is a worldwide phenomenon. Nearly every country is planning to raise more restrictions around the consumption of Tobacco. The awareness about its ill effects is rising through the corridors of Parliaments of many countries with the help of governmental and non-governmental organizations. There are some internationally recognized organizations like the “World Lung Foundations” that are striving hard to reduce the consumption of tobacco to a bare minimum. There are numerous reasons that support the argument that tobacco should be completely banned from the United Sates.

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.

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.

Now, more than ever, more and more people are beginning to look at tobacco use as a major public health concern. It is nineteen ninety nine, and the number of smokers is rising while the average age of smoking initiation decreases. There are those that believe using tobacco of any type should be illegal, or at least restricted. Others believe it is up to the person to choose whether to use tobacco products or not, however most of these people believe tobacco companies should warn their customers of their products harmful affects.

Cigarettes kill more Americans than suicide, vehicular accidents, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, ADIS, and homicides combined. Cigarettes do not support or benefit the public in a positive way. Cigarettes are filled with thousands of chemicals and are highly addictive. Cigarettes have caused numerous mental and physical problems for smokers and the people who surround them, impacting families, communities and society. Cigarettes and tobacco should become an illegal drug in North America. The negative traits of smoking outweigh the positive traits; tobacco should not be accessible to the public.

“Loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, and dangerous to the lungs.” says King James of England and Scotland, describing smoking in 1604 (Connolly 13). Tobacco use kills millions of people a year but still only has few legal restrictions. Many argue that the use of tobacco is a right we have in the United States but the harm that it does to the innocent may outweigh those rights. Because the use of tobacco negatively impacts the health of both the users and those around them, all tobacco products and their use should be illegal.

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 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.

Tobacco takes over 450,000 lives each year. Smoking tobacco can cause more death than alcohol and drug use combined and multiplied by two and it is still less than smoking. Smoking can harm you by taking your life. Smoking can harm others by second hand smoking and smoking takes so much money out of your pocket! Smoking should be stopped before it takes more lives and possibly your own!

For years cigarettes have been known to cause cancer, emphysema, and other horrible illnesses. The deaths of over 420,000 Americans this year will be attributable to cigarettes. With some of the other causes of preventable deaths such as, alcohol, illegal drugs, AIDS, suicide, transportation accidents, fires, and guns, cigarettes still account for more preventable deaths than those do combined, as stated by Lonnie Bristow M.D. of the American Medical Association at her speech to Indiana University. Some researchers have also found that smoking by pregnant women causes the deaths of over 5,000 babies and 115,000 miscarriages. The best way to get rid of the suffering and loss of life by cigarettes is to ban them. We can no longer stand aside and watch fellow Americans die because they smoke cigarettes. Thousands of smokers try to rid

It is crucial that tobacco usage in the United States ends because tobacco not only negatively affects the user, but also the people indirectly exposed, and as a result, the economy. Tobacco appears to be very profitable as a consumable product to the nation because of its wide usage, but the costs needed to cover medical charges overshadow the profit. Tobacco usage also demands a high price of human lives. Both the farming and waste of tobacco products damage the environment. The ceasing of American tobacco use will positively affect the country by creating a safer environment, reducing tobacco related deaths and illnesses, and providing cleaner communities.

Every year the US government passes numerous laws to protect its citizens. Yet, they still fail to protect its citizens from the leading cause of death in America. Although they work to protect the citizens they continue to ignore the most preventable death in America. The culprit responsible for these deaths is the cigarette. The impact that cigarettes make on a human is awful and there should be no reason why it is legal. Cigarettes should be banned because it is one of the harm fullest drugs around that is still legal. Cigarettes not only affect ones health but it affects the environment, economy and others around them.

In 1979, the US National Longitudinal Survey of Youth used the Peabody Individual Achievement Test to show that children born to smoking mother’s had an IQ that was on average, 2.87 points lower than other children. This study was not respected until the 1990’s when there were several efforts by both the United States Congress and the U.S Food and Drug Administration to protect youth from cigarettes. Prior to this, Americans tried to deny the fact that tobacco was harmful due to the glorification of the product as well as how frequently it was used in pop culture. However, in the last decade attention has shifted to secondhand smoke awareness. Although the ability to purchase the products has been revoked for children, it is still legal for their parents to do so. This secondhand smoke is extremely dangerous, especially for children. That being said, we should start to eradicate tobacco around them.

Should cigarette smoking be banned for everyone in the United States? Why? Why not? Should those who chose their time smoking to relieve stress, personal enjoyment, or simply just because, have to lose their right to what makes them happy? Smoking tobacco products has been around for decades and in many different forms. Should personal rights be pushed aside to please those around us that disagree with the so called “disgusting habit”? In the paper The Washington Times an article caught my interest called”D.C. seeks bans on smoking in national parks” written by Steven Dinan. In this article he stated that “Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote Park Service Regional Director Steve Whitesell saying she’s heard from constituents who fear