Should Cigarettes Be Banned? Essay, Research Paper

Should cigarettes be banned?

Although smoking is a proven killer, Americans waste hundreds of dollars each year on tobacco products. Other drugs that are harmful, such as crack or marijuana, are illegal in the United States and Canada. However, the use of cigarettes, which kills millions worldwide annually, is perfectly legal. If certain harmful substances are illegal, then cigarettes should not be permitted either.

Smoking has several harmful effects on the body. Cigarettes cause eighty-five percent of lung cancer and are responsible for thirty percent of all deaths resulting from cancer. People who have smoked for a significant period of time will have noticeable problems breathing and will most likely be in poor health. One out of four deaths of people thirty-five to sixty-four years old result from smoking. On the average, every cigarette takes five and a half minutes of life away from a smoker.

Although restrictions have been placed on the use of cigarettes in public areas such as restaurants and airplanes, the US has yet to place a ban on smoking. The government frequently inspects items sold to the public. Commercial products that may be dangerous such as food, cars, and toys have been recalled in order for alterations. In an issue of consumer reports, twenty-four products were recalled because of possible dangers to the consumer. These products included a car that may lose a wheel while in motion, a hair dryer that poses a fire hazard, and cookies that can cause an allergic reaction. Yet, the sale of cigarettes, known to be unsafe, has never been prohibited by the government. Why are cigarettes any different from other products sold in the US and Canada?

Cigarettes are not only harmful to users, but are also damaging to all people in the vicinity of a smoker. Second hand smoke from cigarettes is just as damaging as smoke inhaled by users. Each year, 53,000 people die from the effects of second hand smoke. A person living with a spouse who smokes has a thirty- percent higher chance of getting lung cancer.

Parents who smoke force their children to breathe the fumes every day. Seventeen percent of lung cancer is attributed to people who grew up with parents who were smokers. Children of smokers have a lower birth rate and are often less intelligent. People who have chosen to smoke have accepted the unhealthy risk of the drug. However, nonsmokers have not opted for the hazards involved with smoking and therefore should not be introduced to these hazards. The government has chosen not to place a ban on a drug that puts even the non-users at risk to health problems. People who do not smoke must always be wary of toxic cigarette fumes that may be in their presence.

Most people are aware of the health risks involved with smoking.

For this reason, cigarette manufacturers have invested much of their advertising campaign to the most uninformed segment of the population, minors. The average age to start smoking in the US is fourteen and a half years old. Ads such as the cartoon character Joe Camel, A camel who rides a motorcycle in the presence of attractive women, are obvious gimmicks to attract children and teenagers. Before the appearance of “Joe Camel”, Camel cigarettes made six million dollars from sales to minors. However, just two years after the first appearance of the cartoon character, sales of Camel cigarettes to minors rose to $476 million. In a recent study, just as many six-year-old children recognized “Mickey Mouse” as “Joe Camel.” Thousands of minors become addicted to cigarettes every year, posing health problems later in life. The Canada and US should not allow the sale of a product aimed at harming our children.

Cigarettes cause health problems in smokers as well as nonsmokers.

They harm adults as they do youth. Although smoking has only negative effects on the body, the use of cigarettes is legal while other drugs are banned. Most products proven dangerous are banned or recalled. Cigarettes should be no different.