Cigarettes Should Be Made Illegal

1584 Words4 Pages

The sale of cigarettes and tobacco is a multi-billion dollar industry, but is it truly worth all the problems that stem from their use. Health care costs are extremely high due to all the health problems associated with cigarettes and tobacco. Even though research has proven time and time again the harmful effects of cigarettes, and the rising cost of health care caused by cigarettes our government will not take a stand and stop all manufacturing of the horrible toxins.

Every year new medical reports are issued regarding the harmful effects of smoking cigarettes. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world die every year from diseases caused by smoking. Approximately one in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will occur in middle age. The most common of the diseases caused by smoking is cancer, of course. Not only is it a cause of lung cancer, but cancer of the larynx, and the esophagus, and it contributes to the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, and kidney. Lung cancer comes from the tar in the cigarettes. The tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney. It does not make a difference if a smoker changes to low-tar cigarettes because smokers will take a deeper puff to get the same affect as a regular cigarette. This causes them to draw the tar deeper into their lungs causing even more damage. The Surgeon General requires that every package of cigarettes has one of the following statements: SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy. SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Cigarette Smoke Contains Carbon Monoxide. Despite these warnings most of the population is not aware of the other illnesses that can develop...

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...is vicious cycle? They have taken a stand to control the nicotine in the cigarettes; why not take that stand even further? Do they not realize by making these wicked things illegal and shutting down manufacturers, not only will they save on health care, they will save lives?

Works Cited

http://www.quit-smoking-stop.com/smoking-diseases.html,

http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/culture-society/articles/cigarette-manufacturers-developed-candy-flavored-brands-target-youth, Carrie Carpenter, Harvard School of Public Health, November, 2005

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1889469,00.html, Fixing Health Care Cheaply, Haig, Scott, April, 2009

"FDA bans flavored cigarettes as part of new tobacco control act." Hem/Onc Today 25 Oct. 2009: 2. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 23 Nov. 2009.

Wilkes, Gwen, Personal Interview, 27 November 2009.

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