Smoking is a disgusting habit, which affects the health and wealth. For decades, governments have been trying to find ways to eradicate smoking. The hot debates on whether governments have the right to ban smoking cigarettes in public places or not still continue. Some people argue that everyone should make own choice whether to smoke or not. Personally, I think the government should be responsible for citizens' health care and outlaw smoking in public places. The most important reason for imposing restrictions is to prevent harm to human health, avoid discomfort among non-smokers and protect environment.
It is a well-known fact that smoking causes different health hazards. One cigarette contains tobacco, approximately 4000 toxic chemicals, tar and combustion products which have deleterious influence on human health. The effects of smoking are a high blood pressure, dangerous heart diseases, stroke, poor dental health, lung cancer and respiratory diseases. Moreover, it is dangerous for pregnant women and the development of unborn baby in the womb. Furthermore, the cigarette smoke disturbs non-smokers. Smoking damages the health of non-smokers against their will. Secondhand smokers or passive smokers are at risk of the same diseases as active smokers while inhaling cigarette smoke involuntarily in public places.
The vast majority of scientists and doctors think that cigarettes’ impact on the human body is extremely harmful and injurious to health. According to a report of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 cigarette smoke is a Group A carcinogen and cause of 3000 deaths from lung cancer annually (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). The World Health Organization has found that 600 000 people die annually from second-hand smoking (World Health Organization). Such results have confirmed the necessity to ban smoking in public places. Therefore, the government should take proper measures, ban tobacco advertising and strictly control smoking in public places. I think the prohibition of smoking in public places is a crucial step in moving towards non-smoking society.
References
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2011). Health Effects of Exposure to Secondhand Smoke. Retrieved from http://www.epa.gov/smokefre/healtheffects.html
World Health Organization. Implementing tobacco control. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/tobacco/control/en/
