Diseases caused by the use of tobacco are the leading cause of preventable deaths and suffering around the world. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, about 47 million people aged 18 and older smoke cigarettes (CDC, pg. 1149). Of the 47 million people, about 444,000 people die each year from smoking related illnesses. There are about 7,000 chemicals that are used in the production of cigarettes. Nearly 70 of those chemicals have been linked to causing cancer. Smoking should be banned because it causes major health problems, affects one’s quality of life, and contributes to a great deal of the world litter problem.
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Cancer is a very serious disease that is caused by smoking, but only about half of smoking related deaths are attributed to smoking. Along with causing cancer, cigarettes are linked to heart disease, bronchitis, aneurysms, emphysema, and strokes (Lechner, Miller, and Wiener, & Fils-Aime, pg 507). Tobacco use has even been linked to causing reproductive problems in women and debilitating illnesses in new born babies of smoking mothers. Women who smoke are rendered less fertile than those that do not smoke and have a greater risk of having a miscarriage or stillbirth. Babies born to smoking mothers are more likely to be underweight, birth defects, and are more prone to die from sudden infants’ death. People with asthma who smoke may see their condition deteriorate. Long term smokers suffer from gum disease and tooth loss (Bauer, et al. pg. 1026).
Smoking cigarettes greatly affect how long a person lives. On average cigarette smokers die about 14 years younger than nonsmokers (Mokdad, Marks, Stroup, & Gerberding, pg. 1240). Persons who are chronic smokers are much more likely to die between the ages of 35 and 60 than those who have never been smokers (Grant, Hasin, Chou, Stinson, & Dawson, pg. 1109). If a smoker were to cease smoking by the age of 40, he/she would reduce the death at an early age likeliness by 90 percent. Smoking harms every organ in the human body. One study even concluded that men who smoke are 33 percent more likely to become impotent (WHO, pg. 99). Those smokers who suffer from emphysema finding completing daily chores nearly impossible. Walking up stairs, taking a shower, or even walking to the mail box can prove a tedious task.
Banning smoking would reduce the litter problem. Cigarette butts account for a great deal of the litter collected annually, about 25-50 percent to be exact (DHHS, 2008). Cigarette butts contain carcinogenic chemicals that are expelled when soaked in water. These chemicals have been linked to death in the fish population. The butts left over can take up to 3 years to naturally biodegrade. Also, streets, sidewalks, and beaches littered by cigarette butts are an eye sore. In one study, a group of beach cleaners collected more than 1.6 million cigarette butts, which equated to about 33 percent of the total amount of debris collected. However, all butts collected on the beach may not have actually been smoked there. Butts that are thrown on streets and from moving cars and washed into streams and oceans via drains.
If cigarettes were banned, people would suffer less from preventable diseases, live better quality lives, and the litter would be reduced. Cigarettes cause many diseases like heart complications and bronchitis. These diseases can reduce the quality of life of people suffering from them. Some people become dependent upon artificial oxygen. Finally, banning cigarettes would help to eliminate a major litter problem.
Works Cited
Bauer, J. E., Hyland, A., Li, Q., Steger, C., & Cummings, K. M. “A Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Smoke-Free Worksite Policies on Tobacco Use.” American Journal of Public Health, 95.6 (2005): 1024-1029.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. “State-Specific Prevalence of Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults and Secondhand Smoke Rules and Policies in Homes and Workplaces–United States, 2005.” Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 55.42 (2006a): 1148-1151.
Grant, B. F., Hasin, D. S., Chou, S. P., Stinson, F. S., & Dawson, D. A. “Nicotine Dependence and Psychiatric Disorders in the United States: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.” Archives of General Psychiatry, 61.11(2004): 1107-1115.
Lechner, W., Meier, E., Miller, M., Wiener, J., & Fils-Aime, Y. “Changes in Smoking Prevalence, Attitudes, and Beliefs Over 4 Years Following a Campus-Wide Anti-Tobacco Intervention.” Journal of American College Health, 60.7(2012): 505-511.
Mokdad, A. H., Marks, J. S., Stroup, D. F., & Gerberding, J. L. (2004). Actual Causes of Death in the United States, 2000. Journal of the American Medical Association, 291.10(2004): 1238-1245.
Rosenstock, I. M., Strecher, V. J., & Becker, M. H. “Social Learning Theory and the Health Belief Model. Health Education Quarterly, 15.2(1988):175-183.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Public Health Services. “Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update.” Rockville, MD: National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2008.
World Health Organization. (2007). “Smokeless Tobacco and Some Tobacco-Specific NNitrosamines.” IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, 89(2007):1-641.
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