Smoking Danger Essay, Research Paper

Every year thousands of people die because of lung cancer or other tobacco

related illnesses. Everyone in the world comes in contact with smoke from a

cigarette at least once in their lifetime, whether it is at a restaurant or at

work. Millions of people are addicted to smoking, and thousands more become

addicted every year. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are everywhere. Most

of the addicted smokers started when they were young (Roberts 18). The reason

why people get addicted to any type of tobacco product is because all tobacco

products have nicotine in them, which is the addictive ingredient (American

Thoracic Society 22). Every time a person smokes a cigarette or chews tobacco,

that person ingests nicotine. I believe that the tobacco companies should be

liable for every tobacco-related death each year. On the other hand, some people

believe that everyone has a right to make their own judgment about their life.

My opponent, Rosalind Marimont argues drugs and alcohol are more dangerous to

society than tobacco (26). Second hand smoking is not a danger to the health of

the community (Marimont 26). There are health benefits for people that do smoke

tobacco (Marimont 27). So many people quit smoking each year, it is so

ridiculous to think that tobacco products are addicting argues Richard

DeGrandpre (39). The facts about tobacco and tobacco products have been shaded

by the government and government agencies to make smoking less acceptable and

more inconvenient to smokers and tobacco users Sullum argues (55). My opponents

firmly believe that there are no risks if a person starts smoking. As you will

see, I will show extenuating facts that disprove my opponents views on tobacco

products. My opponent states that smoking is not dangerous, however, I intend to

prove that smoking is dangerous not just to smokers, but to everyone as well. It

is a proven fact that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease (American

Thoracic Society 19). Every person that breathes the smoke of tobacco products

is at risk for tobacco-related illnesses. Even though smoking is not as

publicized by the media as much as illegal drugs, cigarettes are just as bad.

Smoking cigarettes leads to the use of other drugs that are more harmful to the

person than cigarettes (Hall 22). If smoking was not dangerous, then why is

there a commercial on television telling the viewer that the tobacco companies

kill 1000 people everyday? The statistics on the number of people that die each

year in the United States from tobacco or tobacco-related illness is

astonishing. Over four hundred thousand people die each year from smoking

(American Thoracic Society 19). Also, a person age twenty-five that is a heavy

smoker has a life expectancy that is twenty-five percent less than a person that

does not smoke (American Thoracic Society 19). more For something that is not a

hazard to people?s health, they sure do account for a lot of deaths that occur

each year. I do not see how my opponent can contend that secondhand smoke is not

a heath hazard to the rest of the community. Secondhand smoke affects everyone

because it goes into the air. We (nonsmokers) can not protect ourselves from

other people?s cigarette smoke (Garrision 44). Everyone breaths, therefore, if

you are sitting next to someone that smokes, you are probably getting a some

smoke in your lungs. This happens because when smoke goes into the air, it

disappears into the oxygen. As you breath in oxygen, you also breath in a

minimal amount of the cigarette smoke. In 1986, a surgeon general?s report was

released that stated smoke from tobacco products can cause cancer in healthy

non-smoking adults (Garrision 45). It has been proven that secondhand smoke can

cause lung cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses in people that do not

smoke (Garrision 45). Yet the tobacco companies continue to deny that the smoke

of cigarettes cause these illnesses to non-users of tobacco (Garrision 47). The

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that secondhand smoke is the

cause of over three thousand deaths from lung cancer each year (Garrison 44).

Smoking has also been linked to colon cancer. Even if you quit smoking, your

risk of colon cancer remains higher than if you had never started smoking (Keyishian

13). Many people are aware of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and agree

with restrictions and/or a total ban on smoking in public (Garrision 48).

Tobacco products should be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration because

it affects not only smokers, but non-smokers as well. As you can see, smoke from

tobacco products does affect everyone in one way or another. I agree with my

opponent that smokers are usually less obese (Marimont 27). However, just

because there are a couple of health benefit?s that not mean that smoking is

better for everyone. People who smoke are not able to perform exercises for any

length of time (Hall 22). Smoking reduces the amount of air the lungs can take

in and it makes breathing difficult when running or walking ( Keyishian 15). In

the early nineties, one in every five deaths were caused by smoking or using

tobacco products (American Thoracic Society 19). Hundreds of thousands of people

die each year because of tobacco products, whether the person dies from lung

cancer, throat cancer, or emphysema (Hall 22). Pregnant women that smoke during

their pregnancy will have a child that is born with a low birthweight and

premature mortality (American Thoracic Society23). Smoking with a small child in

the house could cause the child to develop asthma or other respiratory problems

(America Thoracic Society 23). If a woman smokes while pregnant, she could have

a child that has a lower intelligence and behavior problems (America Thoracic

Society 22). Just like cocaine and heroin, cigarettes? can cause a user to

have withdrawal symptoms after a period of not getting the nicotine he/she needs

(American Thoracic Society 23). If the smoker does not get their nicotine fix,

he/she could become irritable, have anxiety, difficulty concentrating and their

appetite may increase (American Thoracic Society 23). The smoker may believe

that if he/she does not get their nicotine and gets hungry, he/she may see

themselves gaining weight. If gaining a little weight will help you live longer

and with fewer health conditions, then I believe the weight it worth it. The

longer you are not smoking, the less of a chance you will have to get cancer or

other health problems from tobacco products (American Thoracic Society 23). How

can the benefits of smoking out weight the risks involved, especially when it

involves innocent children? These children are the future of the world and if

they smoke, there life expectancy will diminish greatly with every cigarette

they smoke. If the children die, then we, the human race, have no future.

Richard DeGrandpre contends that nicotine is not an addictive drug in tobacco

products (39). The nicotine in tobacco has met the criteria for it to be a

highly addictive and toxic drug to people who use it (Douglas 34). The youth of

today are becoming smokers more and more everyday (Bonnie 24). Statistics have

proven that underage smoking has been rising. In 1993, statistics proved that

there were more than three million children smoking in the United States (Bonnie

24). The tobacco companies contend that nicotine is not addictive, however, the

Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have

released numerous reports on the addictiveness of nicotine (Douglas 34). Smoking

is inhaling and exhaling of smoke from a tobacco product (?Smoking? 430).

Look, nicotine is used to kill insects and parasites, just think about what is

doing to the body of smokers. A smoker may start out just smoking a couple

cigarettes a day, but the more the person smokes the higher their dependency on

nicotine gets (Douglas 34). Just like other drugs, the user develops a tolerance

which causes them to use more to get the effect he/she wants (Douglas 34). This

is how the government connects nicotine to other drugs, because of it?s

addictiveness. Nicotine has been classified as a habit-forming drug (Keyishian

14). Nicotine is not the only ingredient that is bad for the human body. There

are many other harmful chemicals in cigarettes such as ?arsenic, ammonia,

carbon monoxide, methane, acetone,? and many more (Douglas 33). These

chemicals can be very dangerous in large quantities by themselves. I cannot see

how anyone can smoke something with so many harmful chemicals in it. Every

person that smokes or breathes in smoke from tobacco products are killing

themselves whether it is their choice or not. My opponents state that the

government has shaded statistics to make smoking less acceptable. I do not

understand how anyone can shade statistical information. Studies have proven how

bad tobacco products are for tobacco users and non-tobacco users. Over

thirty-seven thousand nonsmokers die of heart-disease each year (Garrision 45).

It is estimated that over thirteen thousand non-smokers die from other cancers

each year (Garrision 45). Between one hundred and fifty thousand and three

hundred thousand cases of lower respiratory-tract infection?s for children

under eighteen months were reportedly linked to secondhand smoke exposure

(Garrison 45). ?The Environmental Protection Agency did a study of women who

lived with a smoker and those women are 1.19 times more likely to get lung

cancer. A female smoker is ten times more likely to get lung cancer than a

nonsmoking female. A male smoker is about twenty times more likely to get lung

cancer than a nonsmoking male (Sullum 53).? The Center for Disease Control (CDC),

did a study on the cigarettes used most by teenagers. The results were that

teenagers smoke the most advertised brand of cigarettes (Bailey 74). The

statistical data from government agencies such as the Food and Drug

Administration, the Center for Disease Control, and the Environmental Protection

Agency is hard concrete facts about the effects of smoking on the human body. As

you can see, there is more than enough evidence to support the Food and Drug

Administration?s claim of serious health risks from tobacco products. The Food

and Drug Administration wants to be able to regulate tobacco advertising so it

may cut down on the number of teens that start smoking each year. Study after

study has proven that with smoking comes major health risks. Even people that do

not smoke are at risk of these heath problems. Statistics do not lie, one

thousand people die everyday from tobacco or tobacco related illnesses.

Statistical data can not be altered in any way nor can they be shaded by anyone.

Tobacco products are not going to go away for good, however the Food and Drug

Administration should be given the authority to regulate the advertising of

tobacco companies. The only product the Food and Drug Administration can not

regulate is the manufacture, sale, packaging, and distribution of tobacco

products (Douglas 33). If the advertisements can be cut down, then many

teenagers will not be influenced to try them as much as they are now. Given this

compromise, the tobacco companies will still get money from the people that are

already addicted, but it will greatly reduce the amount of money they make each

year. Tobacco products are always going to be around, but I hope that the Food

and Drug Administration will be able to regulate them for the safety of not only

adults, but for all of the children as well.

90e

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ed. Tobacco. 17-24. Bailey, William Everett. ?Tobacco Advertising Encourages

Teens To Smoke.? Bruno Leone, ed. Tobacco. 71-79. Bonnie, Richard J. and

Barbara S. Lynch. ?Teenagers Underestimate the Risk of Addiction.? Bruno

Leone, ed. Addiction. 24-27. DeGrandpre, Richard J. ?Nicotine Is Not

Necessarily Addictive.? Bruno Leone, ed. Tobacco. 37-42. Douglas, Clifford E.

?Nicotine Is Addictive.? Bruno Leone, ed. Tobacco. 31-36. Garrision, John R.

?Secondhand Smoke Is Harmful.? Bruno Leone, ed. Tobacco. 43-48. Hall,

Sabrina F. ?Cigarettes Addict Teenagers and Lead to Use of Other Drugs.?

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Tobacco. 25-28. Roberts, Steven V. ?Peer Pressure Causes Teenagers to

Smoke.? Bruno Leone, ed. Teen Addiction. 18-20. ?Smoking.? The World Book

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