Tobacco Smoke example essay topic

Tobacco Use: Should it be Legal or Illegal? Each year hundreds of American dollars are wasted on tobacco products. Although smoking tobacco is a proven killer, congress still allows it to be legal. Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and crack, kill millions of people worldwide a year. Whereas "Over 400,000 Americans alone die each year from the use of tobacco", (Harmful) and yet we still allow this drug to be legal.

If congress says that certain drugs shall be illegal, then the use of tobacco should be illegal. "Tobacco is one of the most heavily used addictive drugs in the United States. In 2002, thirty percent of the United States population twelve and older-71.5 million people- used tobacco at least once in the month prior to being interviewed" (Cigarettes). The use of tobacco has gone to the extreme limits. Even the nonsmokers are being affected with the smoke when they go to public places or other indoor areas. Although there are restrictions on the use of cigarettes in public places such as restaurants and government building, the United States still has not placed a ban on smoking.

Though many may disagree, and argue that it is their right to smoke cigarettes wherever they want to because it is their freedom. Nonsmokers may argue that the second hand smoke that they are receiving is just as damaging to them as the smoker. "The carbon monoxide in the smoke increases the chance of a cardiovascular disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adults and greatly increases the risk of respiratory illnesses in children and sudden infant death" (Cigarettes). People who have chosen to smoke have accepted the unhealthy risks of the drug. The use of tobacco causes early and painful deaths due to the diseases that people form.

"Tobacco smoking is an important risk factor for respiratory illnesses, causing 85,000 deaths per year from pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia" (Harmful). If tobacco were considered illegal then we would save thousands of lives in America. With this hazardous drug available to people of all ages above eighteen years old, it puts most Americans at risk of some type of disease. "Tobacco is put to blame for a majority of all cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, and esophagus. Tobacco also produces cancer in the pancreas, kidneys, bladder, and cervix" (Harmful). If the government continues to allow tobacco to be permitted, in the near future the population will soon begin to dwindle due to the fact of early deaths of those who inhale the smoke.

The effects of smoking are worse in women than men. According the National Institute of Drug Abuse "women who smoke generally have earlier menopause. If women smoke cigarettes and also take oral contraceptives, they are more prone to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases than are other smokers; this is especially true for women older than thirty". Smokers may argue that smoking is a pain reliever, a stress reducer, and that it relaxes them.

Nevertheless, cigarettes may do this for some people, but that still does not mean that they are not being harmed by stuff contained in the cigarettes. "In addition to nicotine, cigarette smoke is primarily composed of a dozen gases (mainly carbon monoxide) and tar. The tar in a cigarette, which varies from 15 mg to 7 mg, exposes the user and everyone in the vicinity to a high rate of diseases" (Cigarettes). If the government allows this to continue, most of the Americans will have come down with some type of disease. Whether the American is a smoker or a nonsmoker they will have developed a disease such as cancer that is incurable, and will lead to an early and painful death. We must stop the use of tobacco, for it is a drug and should be illegal.

Tobacco smoke is killing thousands of people every year and injuring hundreds of thousands more every day like children. As one can see it is not recommended for people to smoke in public due to the effects it has on smokers as well as nonsmokers. Cigarettes are drugs. They are addictive; they have bad effects, and therefore, should be illegal.

Bibliography

Cigarettes and Other Nicotine Products". National Institute on Drug Abuse. 9 Oct. 2003.
26 Oct. 2003.
Harmful Effects of Smoking and Chewing Tobacco". Be Smoke Free. Apr. 2001.