The World Health Organization says that smoking cigarettes are the largest cause of preventable premature deaths. CDC states that everyday in America, 1600 people under the age of 18 smoke their first cigarette. According to 2019 data, over 16 million Americans live with at least one disease caused by smoking and 58 million people who don't smoke are exposed regularly by secondhand smoke. Around 34 million US adult citizens smoke cigarettes. 5.7 million people consume smokeless tobacco. If tobacco products are causing that much harm in society, then shouldn't they be banned? I think tobacco products should be banned in public places and here is why.
Cancer is one of the side effect caused by tobacco products. The poisons smoking cigarettes and chewing tobacco damage the cell's DNA which is the instructor of the cell. The DNA controls the cell's normal growth and function. This makes the cell grow out of control and abnormally. Tobacco products even weaken the body's immune system making it harder for your body to regulate the cancer cells. Not only does it cause cancer, but the cancer cells are not being stopped making the cancer even more aggressive. Lung cancer is one of the side effects for smoking and it is the deadliest type of cancer. Nearly 90% of lung cancers are caused from smoking cigarettes and 90% of oral cancers are caused from chewing tobacco but tobacco can cause cancer in almost any part of the body. These cancers can include liver, stomach, kidney and pelvis, pancreas, urinary bladder, colon and rectum, etc.
Another reason is smoking cigarettes causes cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD is the disease that has the largest cause of death in the world. Every year, more than 800,000 people die a year from CVD and almost more than 8 million Americans have had a heart attack and more than 7 million have had stroke. Cigarettes have chemicals that make the cells that line up blood vessels swell, narrowing the tunnel way for blood. Plaque also builds up the tunnel way making it even harder for the blood to flow. When a clot forms, the heart will become oxygen starved and this will cause a heart attack. The types of CVDs that might develop from these clots are Atherosclerosis, Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) and more.
Many people think that smokeless tobacco is a safe alternative because it doesn't cause lung cancer like cigarettes do. However, the "smokeless" in "smokeless tobacco" doesn't mean that the product is safe. Smokeless tobacco has over 4,000 chemicals in and 30 of them have been linked to cancer. As you know, smokeless tobacco causes cancer in the mouth but it also causes esophagus, and pancreas cancer. The greater the chemicals the smokeless tobacco, the greater risk for cancer. Other outcomes of using smokeless tobacco are tooth decay, tooth loose, and gum disease. They also, like smoking cigarettes, cause CVD. Some harmful chemicals in these products include lead, nickel, and mercury. A radioactive element (polonium-210) was even found in some tobacco fertilizer. Pregnant consumers are taking the risk of early delivery and nicotine poisoning in their children
Some people may argue that we should keep e-cigarettes because they can be used as a tool to help people to quit smoking cigarettes. While some scientists might say that vaping is safer than smoking, scientists don't know much about e-cigarettes. What we do know is that they contain heavy metals such as nickel, tin, and lead. E-cigarettes may even have more nicotine in them than smoking cigarettes which means they could be even more addictive than traditional cigarettes. These products haven't even been approved as a good way to quit traditional cigarettes by the FDA. Some studies show that most smokers who try to use e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking ended up both smoking and vaping. This is known as "dual using".
When people smoke or vape, they are not only harming themselves but are harming others around them who aren't smoking. Secondhand smoke is the combination of both the smoke breathed out by the smokers and the burning end of a cigarette. 7,000 chemicals are found inside the smoke. Since the Surgeon General's Report in 1964, 2.5 million adults who've never smoked died due to secondhand smoke. Every year, 8,000 people die of stroke due to second-hand smoking and 34,000 deaths of heart disease due to secondhand smoking. A few side effects of secondhand smoke are nasal irritation, middle ear disease, impaired lung function, lung cancer, and sudden infant death syndrome.
For all of the reasons stated above, tobacco products should be banned in public places. They have thousands of harmful chemicals. Many of these chemicals cause diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease, lung disease, and more. Some people who don't smoke or vape are affected because they are secondhand smokers. Tobacco is impacting society negatively due to the severe side effects of these products. Therefore, it is important to continue to create awareness in our schools, universities, and health centers. Devising policies on public smoking and vaping would be vital for the health of the society.
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"Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease - Centers for Disease Control and ..." Web. 16 Oct. 2022.
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"Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 June 2021. Web. 16 Oct. 2022.
Bate, Roger. "Smoking out Illicit Trade: How Some Policies Intended to Limit Smoking ..." AEI. 2016. Web. 14 Oct. 2022.
"Is Vaping Better than Smoking?" Www.heart.org. 02 June 2022. Web. 18 Oct. 2022.
Blaha, Michael Joseph. "5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know." 5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know | Johns Hopkins Medicine. 20 Jan. 2022. Web. 18 Oct. 2022.
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