Part one: Introduction of the authors
Gio Batta Gori is a professor of epidemiology and toxicology. He has specialized in risk assessment and scientific research. Gori is based at the Health Policy Centre in Bethesda, Maryland (Gori, 2007). He previously worked as the deputy director of the National Cancer Institute in which he played a pivotal role in the prevention of the causes of cancer. Gori also served as a director of the Smoking and Health Program and was a key consultant of the tobacco industry. While he worked as a consultant, Gori criticised the risks that accompany the use of tobacco. His criticism also involved rallying policy makers to regulate and tax tobacco to reduce the risk associated with it. In this regard, Gori’s argument could not have come at the right.
On the other hand, Derrick Jackson is a journalist with the Boston Globe and an award-winning columnist for the Op-Ed section. Jackson has won many awards including two opinion awards from Education Writers Association and nine awards from the National Association of Black Journalists (Jackson, 2009). He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2001. Jackson is popular for his nature photography. The Boston Museum of African American history contains images of Jackson and President Barack Obama.
Part two: Jackson’s claim and evidence
In this article, Jackson acknowledges the role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to enforce bans on candy and fruit-flavoured cigarettes. He observed that the new the agency and been given more powers to regulate the use of tobacco in the United States. Part of the greater scheme in the regulation process was to end what Jackson calls “the Menthol Madness” (Jackson, 2009). Jackson describes the flavoured-cigarette ban as a major action towards the use of tobacco. This move followed the signing of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act three months earlier by President Barack Obama. The new law increased the power of FDA in the regulation of tobacco. Jackson claims that flavoured cigarettes are designed to appeal to young people and because of this design, many young people have increased exposure to toxic substances. Jackson supports the ban on cigarettes claiming that 3600 minors in the US smoke cigarette. This group of citizens are aged between 12 and 17 years.
Part three: Gori’s claim and evidence
In his argument, Gori underscores the danger of smoking cigarettes. He recognizes the advocacy that human rights activists and policy makers have increased in regard to second-hand smoke. Reports by a U.S. surgeon revealed that no one is free from second-hand smoke because the smoke damages cells and increases the probability of cancer (Gori, 2007). The surgeon further observed that children exposed to this type of smoke are likely to develop cardiovascular disease and cancers as they grow. Gori’s argument is developed against this backdrop. He claims that science of second-hand smoke is ‘bogus’ because cancer and cardiovascular disease developed with old age. Gori believes that it is not possible to estimate the risk of these diseases because this type of smoke requires a researcher to know lifetime summations of the smoke in the life of an individual (Gori, 2007). But these lifetime summations differ from person to person and from time to time. He concludes by emphasizing the need to have a straight talk regarding the subject of second-hand smoke.
Part four: Compare and contrast the perspectives of Jackson and Gori
While Jackson supports the ban on flavoured cigarettes in the United States, Gori believes that no research has proven sufficiently that the use of cigarettes can cause cancer in children. In Jackson’s article, focus has been placed on the role of cigarette companies in encouraging young people’s involvement in smoking. Gori insists that it is impossible to determine the total exposure to second-hand smoke for the entire lifetime of an individual. This claim is supported by the differences in the intensity of exposure that is measured in terms of the thickness of the smoke, as well as the differences in various locations. It means that a person’s intensity and location of exposure may vary from another person’s intensity and location of exposure. From the backgrounds of the two authors, it is deducible that Gori’s perspectives stems from his background on the subjects of toxicology and epidemiology whereas Jackson speaks from the perspective of a distinguished journalist. Jackson’s opinion is backed by the recent developments that have occurred in the health legislative process in which the FDA was given more powers to regulate the use of drugs. Gori speaks in his account as an experienced researcher who is attempting to debunk the myth associated with second-hand smoke.
Part five: Similarities and differences
Both articles talk about the exposure of cigarettes to young people. Jackson reports that manufacturing of cigarettes have targeted young people through appealing designs. He observed that the ban on the use of flavoured cigarettes was a move in the right direction by the FDA. Gori similarly addresses the subject of smoking among children. However, both writers depart on the science of exposure. While Jackson believes that children get exposed to cigarettes, Gori main argument rejects the notion that second-hand smoke exposes children to cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Gori’s problem is that the hazards cannot be measured. He believes that the science of second-hand smoke is riddled with fundamental weaknesses. Whereas Jackson talks about the ban on flavoured smokes, his article fails to capture the effect of other types of cigarettes on the population. On the other hand, Gori’s preoccupation is the subject of second-hand smoke and not the primary smoke that an individual inhales upon buying a cigarette.
References
Gori, G. B. (2007, January 30). “The Bogus Science of Second-hand Smoke.” Washington
Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/01/29/AR2007012901158.html
Jackson, D. Z. (2009, September 26). “Let’s ban all flavours of cigarettes.” The Boston
Globe. Retrieved from http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/09/26/lets_ban_all_flavors_of_cigarettes/
