Banning Smoking

Shawnn Wills English 101 Argument Essay March 4, 2011

Smoking in public places has been a controversial topic for many years now. Some agree and some just disagree. A separate smoking section in restaurants just is not enough. Smoking in public places should be banned and illegal because it’s bad for the environment, it has a dangerous effect on people’s health, and it has a bad influence on children. Firstly, smokers think that smoking just affects their health, but they are wrong. Not only does it affect their health, it affects others, and the environment. Smokers are the biggest contributors to environmental pollution. These cigarettes are filled with pesticides. For many years saving the environment has been a main goal for many. There’s even a national day for it. So a safe environment is such a big, controversial deal, why not cut out the supplier? By limiting the use of cigarettes, you can help protect the environment. Secondly, one of the major reasons that smoking in public places should be banned, is the effect it has on people’s health. One example would be the effect it has on asthma. Smoking affects asthma in a major way. Smoking can unfortunately trigger an asthma attack, or in some cases cause a person to get asthma. Another example would be the dangerous outcome of second hand smoking. In recent cases it has been proven and shown that second hand smoking has caused more harm to the person inhaling, than to the actual smoker. A person inhaling the smoke inhales three times more than the smoker does. A smoker’s choice should not affect the health of others. This is very harmful and has a big effect on people’s lives. Separate sections in restaurants and other areas really are not protecting other’s health of those who chose to sit in the non-smoking section. The third reason smoking should be abolished is the negative influence it has on children. Like video games and certain movies cigarettes are rate R. At a young age most children do not know right from wrong. A Childs first impression of someone smoking may be “It is cool” “I want to try”. Parents can try to explain to their kids the negative effect smoking will have on their bodies, but seeing actual people smoking will not help the parent’s argument. As the saying goes, “ Monkey see, Monkey do”. Smokers may disagree with the essays due to the fact that they enjoy smoking. People smoke for various reasons, for example it helps relaxes them, they either started and can not stop, it has a “good” taste to them, it’s a reward to some, a “great deal of pleasure” as some may say, and lastly maybe because it is fun. Judging smokers is not what this essay is about. But when they choose to tamper with other people’s health, that is when the judging starts. Wanting to ban smoking in public places is not about taking away a smoker's rights. This argument is mainly based on protecting the health of other. To conclude smoking should be banned in public places because it has an effect of the environment, effects people health such as asthma, and how it can cause cancer from second hand smoking.