For over a century the debate about whether to ban tobacco products or not has been ongoing without any consensus on the matter. Tobacco products are extremely harmful. They cause the death of millions of people annually, while others acquire life terminating diseases. From on the onset, it is the professional and personal opinion of the author of this paper that tobacco products should be banned. This is because of the following reasons.
The number one cause of death in the world is tobacco products. As a society we cannot tolerate such a menace. This is because tobacco smoking not only adversely affects the smoker, but also passes the same risk to the non-smoker who is around the person smoking. Therefore, a number of people can be severely affected merely by being close to a smoking person. Statistics indicate that approximately half a million people die every year due to tobacco related ailments in United States. This means that despite the contrary belief, tobacco products cause more death than AIDS, car accidents, murderers, suicides and illegal drugs combined. This is a statistical fact that one cannot argue with, despite the apparent harmlessness of smoking. Do we have to pay with more than 430,000 lives each year as the cost of smoking? This cannot be the case.
Tobacco is a highly addictive product. This is because it contains an element known as nicotine. Research indicates that the life of a smoker is usually shortened by an average of ten years. Moreover, from a worldwide perspective, smoking causes a lot of pollution to the environment. Apart from just affecting the person next to the smoker, all the cigarette butts, viewed collectively, contribute immeasurably to environmental pollution. Researchers approximate that cigarette butts of about 1.7 billion pounds accumulate on water bodies and the earth’s crust. This pollutes the air, oceans, beaches, rivers and the entire earth surface. As a society, we ready to let our soils, beaches and neighborhood deteriorates because of smokers. We are not ready to drink polluted water and destroy the habitants of millions of species in the sea. It is high time tobacco products get banned for good.
Despite the fact that it is illegal to sell these products to minors, it is an obvious fact that scrupulous trades and retails sell them to youngsters. The only way to ensure that minors do not access these harmful and addictive drugs is by making them illegal altogether. If they are not banned, majority of the teenagers will end up experimenting with them. Without knowing, most of them will become addictive smokers. As a consequence, we might end up with a smoking nation. This would be a disaster because; as I have argued above tobacco products cause thousands of death yearly. This number may double or triple.
Despite all the awareness programs and public education, it is almost impracticable to end or reduce the effects of tobacco through appealing to people’s conscience. The more people are advised against smoking, the more appealing the habit appears. It is also vital to recognize that the tobacco industry in one of the most lucrative business enterprise in the world. In attempt to kill it will receive instant resistance in equal measure, if not more. Therefore, the solution lies in combining all the efforts. The government should illegalize the drug and ensure enforcement. The civil society and religious groups among others can also join hands to educate the public about the need to end this bad habit.
References
Carpenter, C., Connolly, G., Ayo-Yusuf, O., & Wayne, G. (2009). Developing smokeless tobacco products for smokers: an examination of tobacco industry documents. Journal of Tobacco Control. Retrieved from http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/18/1/54.short
Dresler, D., Cherry, M. J., & Sade, R. M. (2008). A Clash of Rights: Should Smoking Tobacco Products in Public Places be Legally Banned? The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. Retrived From http://ats.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/86/3/699
Joossens, L., & Raw, M. (2007). Progress in Tobacco Control in 30 European Countries, 2005 to 2007. 4th European Conference Tobacco on Health 2007. Retrived from http://www.cancer.dk/NR/rdonlyres/7976C5B7-0608-429D-9E94-B0E93274E22E/0/Sammenlignigafrygeforebyggelsei30europ%25C3%25A6iskelande.pdf
Kyrlesi, A., & Soteriades, E. (2007). Tobacco use among students aged 13–15 years in Greece: the GYTS project. Kyrlesi et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Retrived from http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/7/3/
