Lahnaeya Carlisle

Mr. Droski

2nd hour

Smoking

Do you see people smoking in public areas or do you know anyone who smokes?

Smoking is common in adults and not so much in younger people nowadays. Smoking is

becoming less popular. If smoking was banned in public places there would be a decreased

number of deaths in the world today. Smoking affects a lot of things including your health,

secondhand smoke, and the environment.

There are a few different ways to use tobacco, but the most common one is smoking.

Prepared tobacco is usually smoked but may also be chewed. Indigenous people who were

North American had smoked tobacco part of their religious ceremonies for many years. Once

European explorers and pioneers in the New World heard of tobacco it became very popular.

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Approximately 480,000

deaths happen each year in the United States caused by smoking. Smoking is a major health

threat to the public. After a US Surgeon General published Smoking and Health, the 42% of

American adults dropped 14% by 2017. Smoking damages every organ in your body. Smoking

increases chances of getting lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary

disease. Cigarette manufactures have added more blends to prepared tobacco to make them

more addictive. Cigarettes contain many things that will damage ones health. Secondhand

smoke has lots of toxic chemicals in it. Secondhand smoke has caused about 2.5 million

American adult deaths. Smoking is about 15% of total health care expenditures in high income

countries in 2015. The United States is about 6-18% of each state's total health care

expenditures. A movement for banning smoking in public places started in the United States in
the 1970s. The United States has 81.8% of public places who banned smoking since January

2019. Advertisements of tobacco have been limited in the United States since 1965. Descriptors

are banned to say certain words on a lot of tobacco products since June 2010. People who

smoke have to pay a major tax price on tobacco products. New York City had the most

expensive tax price on their cigarettes costing them $13 per pack in 2018. The FDA tries to help

smokers quit smoking by replacing nicotine products with medications that do not contain any

nicotine. The FDA wanted to lower the amount of nicotine in cigarettes but think if that happens

then smokers will raise their cigarette intake. Harm reduction strategies were thought by

tobacco manufacturers. Critics say that does not provide a long-term solution and that people

will continue using and still be addicted to tobacco products. The CDCs office has increased quit

attempts of smokers over the year of 2019. The plan wanted to help educate people with the

problems of smoking and to reduce secondhand smoke.

Cigarette smoking is linked to many different health problems. Most of the health

problems caused by smoking will be long-term. Cigarette smoking is known to damage almost

every organ in your body. Evidence shows, ¨Research now documents strong causal

associations between active cigarette smoking in young people and addiction to nicotine,

reduced lung function, reduced lung growth, asthma, and early abdominal aortic

atherosclerosis,¨ (Espejo). Younger people are able to stop smoking sooner to prevent these

problems. Smoking may not only affect the smoker, but it can also affect others around him/her.

If a woman is pregnant, then it could affect her baby as well. More evidence shows, ¨Smoking is

the chief preventable cause of premature death in this country...¨ (Espejo). A baby can be

smaller than the average baby and have a higher risk of being born too early because of

smoking. Smoking will give you a shorter life span and many health problems.
 Secondhand smoke is very harmful to the many people who are around it. Some people

are more affected by it than others. For example, ¨We have estimated that second-hand smoke

caused 603,000 deaths and 10.9 million DALYs [disability-adjusted life years] worldwide in 2004,

corresponding to 1.0% of all deaths and 0.7% of the worldwide burden of disease in DALYs in

this year,¨ (Peruga et al.). Kids are more exposed to secondhand smoke than any other age

group. They may have family members around them or living with them who smoke. Evidence

shows, ¨We estimated that 165,000 children younger than 5 years die every year from lower

respiratory infections caused by exposure to second-hand smoke,¨ (Peruga et al.). Children

have weaker respiratory systems because his/her lungs are smaller and they are still growing. If

smoking in public were to be banned, then there would be a decrease in the amount of deaths

per year caused by secondhand smoke.

Air pollution is getting worse each and every year. People are affected by air pollution

because of the many different chemicals they are inhaling. Cigarette smoke is just adding more

dangerous chemicals to the air we breathe. For example, ¨Tobacco smoke contains more than

4,500 compounds, 50 of which are known or suspected carcinogens, and six of which are

developmental or reproductive toxicants,¨ (Naeher et al.). There are so many different toxic

chemicals in a single cigarette. Environmental smoke can also lead to health problems. For

example, ¨...environmental tobacco smoke, has been associated with low birth weight, sudden

infant death syndrome, and acute lower respiratory tract infections among children,¨ (Naeher et

al.). Cigarette smoke is another reason for air pollution. It is an environmental hazard.

The opposing viewpoint to my argument is to not tax on tobacco products. Having a

higher tax rate on tobacco products only affects the smokers or people who buy the products.

For example, ¨The higher tax rate on tobacco is inequitable because it doesn't affect all citizens

equally, only smokers,¨ (Kime). Smokers are spending so much more money since tobacco
has such a high tax rate. For example, ¨For each dollar spent on cigarette taxes is a dollar being

denied other businesses... less to be spent on entertainment, eating out and for other such

nonessentials,¨ (Kime). If the cigarette tax rate wasn't so high, smokers would be able to buy

more with his/her money for other businesses. Having a lower tax rate or no tax rate at all on

cigarettes would be more beneficial for the smokers money and other businesses. If the tax rate

for cigarettes stays high then some people will lower the amount of packs of cigarettes they buy,

which is better for him/her and the environment.

Smoking affects a lot of things including one's health, secondhand smoke, and the

environment. Smoking can damage health and cause a lot of health problems. Secondhand

smoke can harm the people who are exposed to it and can affect them. Cigarette smoke has a

lot of chemicals and once the cigarette is lit and inhaled then exhaled, a lot of those toxic

chemicals are released into the air we breathe. Many people nowadays smoke, but not as many

people smoke because it is known to harm him/her. If public smoking was banned, it would

save a lot of lives.