Smoking causes many medical problems: loss of breath, more vulnerable to disease and an increase in phlegm are just three of the many direct problems caused by smoking. There are many deadly diseases contained within those ‘little white sticks’ that smokers are perfectly happy to uptake in to their body. These deadly diseases include: emphysema, chronic bronchitis and heart disease, all are dangerous to the human body; you might as well be sucking on a lollypop of arsenic. On top of these deadly diseases forms of cancer can dwell in your body: cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus and lungs are the main culprits of a smoker’s death.
50% of teenagers who continue to smoke beyond their early 20s will die from smoking related diseases; do you want to gamble on your life when these are the odds?
Over recent years evidence has emerged proving that it is not just the smoker that is in danger of contracting the deadly chemicals contained within a cigarette, the people around whilst a person is smoking are also effected, the ‘second hand’ smoke greatly increases the chances of a non-smoker contracting cancer. Therefore it is very ignorant for a smoker to smoke in public areas where non-smokers are present, as they may not want to risk their life to inhale toxic fumes.
It’s surprising to know that millions of people smoke tobacco and it does nothing good for them, unlike alcohol, caffeine or pain-killers the only other legal drugs. You could argue that alcohol is equally dangerous causing liver damage etc. but it can make people more relaxed and sociable and uninhibited in a positive way. Cigarettes do nothing good for you, though they can give the illusion of reliving tension but simply because of the relief of nicotine withdrawal; in fact it is because of nicotine withdrawal that smokers are quite often very tense in the first place.
Tobacco is a rather expensive drug and used more by the poor than the rich. But because it is so expensive it uses up most of the money they need to live on, this means that they can’t afford nice possessions and so become more miserable and because they are miserable they smoke more in an attempt to make themselves happier, this results in them becoming more dependant on the drug.
‘Like drink-driving smoking greatly increases the risk of serious harm to self and others’, drink-driving is illegal, why isn’t smoking? It is the responsibility of the government to protect citizens from themselves, which is why bare-knuckle boxing and heroin are banned. Why isn’t tobacco banned?
70% of the millions of people who smoke want to quit, but cant as they aren’t strong enough to stop. These people would benefit from the banning of smoking as it will be an effective way of making sure they did stop. These people are not the problem when it comes to banning smoking as they will stop and not do it illegally. ‘Banning smoking is a form of tough love’
Smoking costs hundreds of millions of pounds per year to the NHS to treat smoking related illness. Also millions of working hours are lost to those who are having time off work because of their smoking related illnesses; in fact people who smoke twenty cigarettes or more per day have twice as much time off than non-smokers. ‘This is an unacceptable economic cost for something with no benefits’
Smoking cigarettes for as few as five years can have a permanent effect on the lungs, the heart, the eyes, the throat, the urinary tract, the digestive organs, the bones and joints, and the skin, even if the smoker quits. Why not ban it while young smokers still have a chance.
So why not ban smoking, if it will provide a more sociable environment in public areas, provide once wasted money for the NHS, give smokers who want to give up a chance to stop, dramatically lower ex-smokers out-goings and most importantly of all it will give our children the benefit of a healthier lifestyle.
