Tobacco Policy Essay Example

Tobacco is a plant that is mainly used in bio-engineering, as ornamentals as a component in pesticides and medications. However, chronic use of tobacco can lead to physical and psychological dependence. Smoking mainly consumes tobacco in the form of cigars, cigarettes, snuff and pipe tobacco.
There are numerous deleterious health complications that are caused by the consumption of tobacco. Tobacco smoking is solely responsible for 90% of lung cancer in the world. It also causes cancer in parts of the body such as the throat and the voice, esophagus, bladder, kidney, liver, stomach and the pancreas. Smoking of tobacco leads also to heart damages and hence malfunctioning of the cardiovascular system. This can bring about condition such as coronary heart disease, stroke, heart attack, peripheral vascular disease( damaged blood vessels), cerebrovascular disease( damage to arteries that supply blood to the brain). Smoking can subject the smoker to injurious respiratory problems like asthma.
For special classes of people such as pregnant women, smoking tobacco may lead to premature birth and low weight births to the fetus and miscarriages or still births. To men, smoking tobacco may lead to impotence and is also a significant factor of erectile dysfunction.
Tobacco smoke not only affects people who smoke, but also secondary smokers. People who inhale tobacco smoke indirectly are said to be at health risk than the smokers themselves. Secondary smokers are at a risk of getting the same health conditions as the smokers themselves. Young children are at a higher risk getting these complications. The babies are at a risk of getting Sudden Infant Deaths (SIDs).
According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the leading because of preventable deaths in the world. Some countries have taken steps to control tobacco smoking, such as printing of warning messages on the packages and creating smoking zones to protect secondary smokers’ effects that have proven not to be enough since the death rates from tobacco are still high.
With such health risks for smokers and non-smokers, the policies that make tobacco a legal substance disregard its effects. Most people contend that tobacco should be banned. There is no difference between banning tobacco and banning marijuana. Since anyone exposed to tobacco smoke is exposed to 250 different carcinogenic and toxic chemicals when they inhale smoke. Also, the deaths related to tobacco are preventable hence this would be a great positive step towards preventing these deaths. As much as tobacco contributes to the economy, it is inconsistent to ban drugs like marijuana, but not tobacco since it has an equally grave effect on those exposed to the smoke.
In conclusion, it is very right to call tobacco smoking a public health hazard and a ban on tobacco consumption is in order to prevent these preventable deaths.