Smoking in public places has been a major concern worldwide. Medical research has shown that public smoking leads to heath problems in the society due to the adverse effects it causes to both the smoker and the non-smoker, affecting both the people’s health and the environment at large. Though cigarette sale contributes revenue to the country, this should not make people overlook the economic effect it brings to the nation. The effects of public smoking cause to the community and the environment should be properly analyzed using available data and further research to support the proposal that Public smoking should be banned due to the health, economic and social effects it has to the nation. Consuming of tobacco is the greatest preventable killer in the world, the world health organization (WHO) estimated that over 100 million deaths have been seen in the 20th century. While there are some gains in production and selling of cigarettes economically there are even more hazardous consequences of smoking especially in public places.
Smoking is a harmful recreational drug use which involves burning of substances, especially tobacco; the smoke produced contains the active ingredients such as nicotine, which are made available for absorption into the lungs by inhaling or tasting causing excitement and as well causing major health problems to the smoker. Smoking in public places, therefore, exposes the public to this smoke making them absorb them into their lungs; this is both for smokers and non smokers causing adverse health effects. From past research smoking has been proven to cause adverse negative health effects to the smoker; however concern is raised on the effects smoking has to the public when smokers carelessly smoke in public places. Public places comprise of roads, beaches, public squares, parks and government buildings available to the public. Public smoking ban legislation decreases the rate at which current smokers smoke and in addition decreases exposure of the public to effects of public smoking. This has also the benefit of a decrease in exposure to secondhand smoking in private places. Public smoking bans should be imposed by governments so as to protect their population’s health and welfare.
Economically cigarettes are a major source of revenue; however it causes major financial losses due to the losses it causes to both the smokers and non-smokers in form of costs in treating smoking related diseases like lung cancer, heart attacks, breathing problems and stroke. Socially, smoking in public places could encourage innocent non-smokers like children and youths to get into the vice. This could be due to the temporary good feeling expressed and shown by the smokers which hides the dangers behind its smoking. The public has the social responsibility of protecting our children from any activity that could harm them; therefore, public smoking is against this moral obligation and should, in fact, be punishable by law if proper public smoking legislation is imposed.
Public smoking exposes the whole population to health risks, from health surveys in America substances emitted from smoking like carbon monoxide, and nicotine are believed to cause heart attack and lung cancer, the fact that smoke emitted from cigar smoking has a greater health effect on the non-smoker than on the smoker proves that it exposes the public to health dangers unknowingly. Smoke drifting from cigarette smoking provokes lung infection and asthmatic attacks even to non-smokers, this involuntary exposure to cigarette stream smoke and the exhaled smoke from smokers known as secondhand smoke (SHS) causes 46,000 deaths due to heart diseases and 200,000 childhood asthma, leukemia, throat and Larynx (voice box) complications in United States annually. Out of all this population that perishes none of the individuals chooses to be exposed to a high risk infections which eventually kill them. Right to life and human dignity is bleached through public smoking by smokers who puff the smoke into the environment to the unwilling recipients causing diseases. This is a total breach to human existence which the government should be ready to protect at all costs since it causes extra medical care costs, illnesses and deaths.
Public smoking cause’s pollution to the environment, smoke emitted pollutes the air while cigarette butts dropped all around cause land pollution hindering plants from growing and causing water pollution when drained into water bodies. This occurs because when people smoke in public places little care is put to discard the waste cigarette butts correctly hence dropping them in the area; they are consequently carried down into water bodies, come into contact with water and leach toxins like cadmium, nicotine and tar into the soil and waterways. Marine life like fish absorbs the toxins resulting into their deaths. However, some cigarette butts are made of plastic known as cellulose acetate; this compound degrades slowly and takes a long time to decompose. These butts could finally be mistaken by marine life for food and consumed causing deaths by blocking their intestines (Jinot, and Steven 32).
Gases from smoking activities include carbon monoxide; these gases rise into the atmosphere, mix up with water and later cause acid rain which destroys plants, harm human beings and destroy buildings (Jinot, and Steven 32).
Public smoking puts the whole society to fire risks, lighting match sticks, use of gas to light itself could lead to unwanted, dangerous fires during dry seasons cigarette butts dropped carelessly cause grass fires causing major losses and deaths in the areas. Losses caused by smoking fires put individuals and the government to incur high replacement and maintenance costs. In cases where there are flammable fuels like gas and accidents by trailers ferrying the petroleum products, smoking increases the chance of explosion causing deaths, incapacitation and financial losses.
Taxes from smokers are often used in public projects; this according to supporters of public smoking is unfair to smokers since it seems like we are discouraging them from smoking with hidden motives and using their money for development agenda. This according to the government is a fair way of discouraging smokers by imposing high taxes on tobacco and tobacco products. This makes the products expensive which could finally lead their consuming less of the harmful smoke, this passively impacts on the smokers’ health and their innocent neighbors (Scherer 36).
However supporters of public smoking argue that passive smokers choose to go to public places where smoking is allowed and inhale other smoker’s smoke, they argue that it’s a personal choice. Others say that banning of public smoking could lead to drop in business in pubs, bars and restaurants, and they say that after all smoking is not illegal, therefore, people should be allowed freedom to smoke. They claim that they have a right to exercise their rights to smoking; this, however, jeopardizes the rights of others in public places (Scherer 23).
Smoking is preventable killer; public smoking causes deaths to innocent humans, animals and plants. Effects of public smoking are adverse and therefore it should be discouraged using all available avenues like media, churches and important of all is the available legislative means by banning public smoking. The government should impose even higher taxes to discourage smokers due to the high cost of production and purchase; strict penalties should be given to people who are caught in the act of public smoking. Smoking shades should be built for the smokers so as to restrict the effects of public smoking to the larger population, this should come with further research on the means of neutralizing gases emitted from smoking; these measure should be used to control the gases in the smoking shades to prevent them from reaching the public. Smokers should learn of the effects of smoking and get into programs that would enable them quit, this is because as much as smoking is harmful when done in public it is even more harmful when done in private places like residential homes, this poses a health risk to their spouse, children and employees. Therefore though these places are not classified as public places the effects it has been even more personal to them since it affects their loved one directly even before going to the outside world. It is, therefore, inevitable to conclude that the numerous harmful effects public smoking causes cannot be compared to economic gains it brings to the nations in the form of employment, taxes and funds for public projects.
Works Cited
Effect of Public Smoking Ban in Helena, Montana: Author's Reply. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd, n.d.. Internet resource.
Is There an Impact of Public Smoking Bans on Self-Reported Smoking Status and Exposure to Secondhand Smoke?BioMed Central Ltd, 2011. Internet resource.
Jinot, Jennifer, and Steven P. Bayard. Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders : the Report of the U.s. Environmental Protection Agency. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, 1993. Print.
Scherer, Lauri S. Smoking. Farmington Hills, MI: Greenhaven Press/Thomson Gale, 2006. Print.
