Tobacco Should Be Prohibited: Tobacco Has Negative Effects On The Environment (Essay Sample)

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Tobacco should be prohibited
Introduction
Smoking-related problems continue to increase across the world. Although the number of tobacco smokers has reduced significantly over the last few decades, the harm caused by this act continues to affect people worldwide. According to the CDC report, the number of adults and high school student smokers has reduced significantly since 1965 as shown in the graph below ("CDC - Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking - Smoking & Tobacco Use"). However, evidence has shown that tobacco smoking kills more people than HIV/AIDS, it is also expected that 10% of the deaths occurring worldwide will be as a result of smoking in future (Sharifi 225). Although people are fully equipped with the knowledge that smoking is unhealthy, they still choose to smoke. Tobacco has been in use for many years, and it is reaching young children not for getting the non-smokers as well. At the same time, the health consequences alone should be enough to convince people to quit smoking, but the substance is highly addictive. Even if people wanted to stop, it is hard due to addiction. Smoking tobacco does not only affect the smoker but also those around them because when one smokes, the smoke travels through the air and affects all living creatures. Therefore, tobacco should be prohibited.
Fig: 1 ("CDC - Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking - Smoking & Tobacco Use")
Reasons why Tobacco should be Prohibited
Tobacco causes annoyance
Tobacco use should be prohibited since it triggers annoyance among people. Tobacco users expose other people to second-hand smoke, which is quite irritating. As a result, this smoke annoys most people as everybody has a right to breathe fresh air. More so, children and pregnant women are second-hand smoke, which puts them at high risk of developing respiratory diseases such as Asthma. Also, the unborn children may be at risk of developing congenital disabilities. Pregnant women who are forced to be second-hand smokers may also be in danger of miscarrying, delivering children with low birth weight or prematurely (Miko & Berkat 118). According to a CDC report, passive smokers have a high risk of contracting lung cancer (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Prohibiting tobacco use is useful in some ways. First, it will eliminate the danger of exposing non-smokers to the risk of developing respiratory and heart problems related to tobacco smoke, more banning tobacco will as well increase the chances of smokers having good health. Banning tobacco will also ensure that people do not get irritated by passive smoke as everybody has a right to breathe clean air. Although not all smokers put the health of others at risk, it remains the fact that smoke emitted is harmful. In this case, some smokers are responsible enough that, they mind about those who are around them. When they are smoking, they usually excuse themselves to avoid putting the lives of others at risk.
Therefore, to overcome this problem a ban should be applied to tobacco use as it would ensure that all people are given a chance to breathe clean air. Prohibiting tobacco will as well make sure that people are not exposed to passive smoke by force, which is against their will and especially family members who may have to tolerate the smokers for the rest of their lives.
Tobacco has Negative Effects on the Environment
Tobacco should be banned as it has detrimental effects on the environment. When tobacco smokers smoke, they tend to throw their cigarettes butts on the ground. These cigarettes buds often have adverse effects on the environment as they take a lot of time to degrade. Just like plastic waste, cigarette butts raise several environmental issues (Chevalier et al., 2). First, these wastes are likely to release harmful constituents that pollute environmental components. More so, several harmful pollutants are emitted and leached by cigarettes buts that can have adverse effects on both the environment as well as the overall health of individuals. After the cigarette butts get into contact with water, they usually release metals lead, copper, and zinc into the marine environment (Chevalier et al., 2). As a result, the water supplies are polluted, and the marine life is put at risk as well. Banning tobacco will ensure that no more littering of cigarette butts take place and people will enjoy a cleaner and healthier environment. However, cigarette butts are not the only cause of environmental pollution; other pollutants have detrimental effects on the environment as well. Nonetheless, tobacco-related contaminants contribute to the overall pollution of the environment and should be eliminated.
Disallowing tobacco can be a sustainable solution towards ensuring an environment is fit for human and animal life. As seen earlier, cigarette smoke and butts endanger various components of the environment including the soil, water and the air. As a result, this means that human and marine life is both at risk of experiencing detrimental effects related to tobacco use. It should be banned to protect the environment from the harmful effects.
Tobacco has Detrimental Effects on the Health of a Smoker
Tobacco should be banned since it has detrimental effects on the health of a smoker. Tobacco smokers have a high risk of contracting deadly diseases. It is also a leading cause of death and is estimated to cause premature death among six million people in the world per year (West 1019). In the US alone, 480,000 million people die every year as a result of smoking-related diseases as seen in the pie chart below ("Smoking And Tobacco Use Health Effects Infographics”). Most deaths related to tobacco smoking usually arise from lung cancer, respiratory infections, and coronary heart diseases. Tobacco use increases the risk of osteoporosis, loss of eyesight and deafness. More so, in both men and women, smoking tobacco reduces fertility. Banning tobacco that causes problems to people is helpful in some ways. First, if tobacco is prohibited, the danger of contracting diseases related to the abuse of the drug will be eliminated. At the same time, disallowing the use of tobacco will help reduce the mortality rate due to tobacco-related deaths. However, although smoking is known to have detrimental effects on health, it allows users to relax or feel good. Nonetheless, the good feeling may not last forever since it has adverse effects on the health.
Hence, a ban on tobacco is appropriate to minimise the problems that arise as a result of misusing the drug. As seen earlier tobacco use is associated with various health problems that affect the quality of life of individuals. As a result, victims cease to be productive and instead are confronted with a significant health burden, banning tobacco will be quite appropriate to prevent the occurrence of such cases in the future.
Fig:2 ("Smoking And Tobacco Use Health Effects Infographics”)
Tobacco Causes Huge Losses of Money
Another reason why tobacco should not be allowed is the fact that it could help save money for other things. Tobacco smokers often suffer financial loss due to the money they waste on daily cigarette packs. As a result, they usually become poorer and often lack money to carry out more important things. In fact, if tobacco was banned, money used to buy cigarettes around the world could be used to carry out more critical projects that could be beneficial to the economy of a country. The financial burden related to tobacco illnesses increasing on a daily basis. As seen earlier, tobacco smoking is a principal cause of various terminal illnesses including lung cancer. Evidence shows that the US government spends billions of dollars every year on smoking costs (Hall and Chris 1). However, although tobacco is known to increase the health spending, it generates a lot of income for the government. Although most states have tried to counter tobacco use by raising the tax of the product, people continue using it, which increases the revenue of a country (below is an infographic showing how excise taxes have increased for the last few decades). Nonetheless, tobacco causes harm to human life, and therefore it should be banned.
Banning tobacco would be a long term solution to most financial problems that countries across the world are confronted with. For instance, cutting costs that most governments, incur inform of treatment of disease related to tobacco use would be directed to other projects that boost the economic growth of a country. At the same time, prohibiting tobacco is appropriate in the sense that, it would help reduce out of pocket costs that smokers use on a daily basis to satisfy their urges. This money could instead be used to educate children, buy food and provide for basic needs in the family. Therefore, disallowing tobacco would be a viable solution to many problems occurring in a country.
Fig: 3 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Tobacco causes Immoral Behaviour
The ban on tobacco is appropriate since it lures young people into immoral behaviour. When children are growing up, they are easily influenced by things happening in their immediate environment. In this light, children often imitate the actions of adult smokers. More so, children tend to perceive actions that occur around them as the way things should be carried out. In the same way, when teenagers see older people smoke they begin smoking as well. Teenagers tend to think that smoking makes a person cool, without knowing the underlying health hazards. When they see older people smoking freely in the streets, it reinforces their belief that smoking is right. Others think that smoking is a transition into adulthood. Therefore, most teenagers begin smoking after seeing older people smoking. Tobacco use should be banned to avoid luring young people into drug use/immoral behaviour. If older peo...