Cigarettes

Andrew Shin
Chemistry
Morton
10 June 2014
Cigarette use in America: Right vs. Rights Say someone was to present you with a question: would you like to intake poisonous, addictive, cancer-causing smoke into your lungs, with practically no redeeming benefits? While this should be an absolute no, cigarettes are confusingly popular among all age groups, ethnicities, and locations. Despite all the glaring and oft-spoken health detriments, cigarettes are so often used that the cigarette industry has now blossomed into a reliable source of consistent income for the national economy. This, perhaps, is the most and only logical reasoning behind the lasting of the cigarette industry. However as the product develops and more information is exposed to the public, calls to end the public distribution of cigarettes have grown louder and spread into the world of politics more and more prominently (Stobbe). In order to help improve the health of people and to abide by moral standards, cigarettes should be illegalized. When cigarettes were first introduced, they became extremely popular, primarily due to the addictive traits of the chemicals in the smoke. However, this had been a time before further research revealed an astounding number of other harmful chemicals within each cigarette, including components found in rat poison and house cleaning agents. Furthermore, not many had known of the existence of tar and nicotine, which cigarettes are known to create and contain a lot of, respectively. Tar build up is now commonly known to be a leading cause of health problems in cigarette users, and nicotine is known as the addictive, artery-sealing leading component in cigarettes. Even further than the harm being done to smokers, second-hand smoke is also an absurdly active health problem. The effects of second hand smoke are exemplified by the fact that the damage done by this source is done to non-smokers, punishing those who chose not to use cigarettes. Banning cigarette use will undoubtedly increase the overall health of the American people, even if the former smokers believe they are suffering. Another point to be observed in the existence of cigarettes as a commercial product is the moral aspect of it. Tobacco companies are completely aware of all the health risks imposed on smokers, yet they merely see their customers as income. Tobacco companies intentionally use extremely toxic chemicals simply to increase the addictive qualities of their product, completely disregarding the value of human life for the value of their economic sustainability. Advertising by tobacco companies are also morally wrong, as recently it has been observed that certain advertisements are meant to target younger groups. This is meant as a marketing strategy, as getting younger customers "hooked" means a longer lasting stream of income from a large group of individuals. This is yet another example of the inhumanity displayed by tobacco companies. While their industry is not the only example of a disregard for human health for economics, it is definitely one of the more prominent in today's society. To take one step in a positive direction to address the "risk anything for the economy" attitude, cigarettes should be illegalized. The one positive that may have resulted in the formation of cigarettes is that the economy does, in some portion, rely on these large industries for a source of international wealth. However, the economy should not take a front seat over the well-being of the populations. Also, the existence of these massive commercial industries are restricting the legalization process of far more beneficial alternatives, such as cannabis, or marijuana. Because of the fear of losing revenue, tobacco companies have attempted for some time to prevent the legalization of marijuana, which is known to have several positive effects and very few negatives. The existence of tobacco corporations effectively prevents further processes to allow use of this beneficial plant, in addition to lowering the cost to arrest those that possess marijuana. Therefore, the one positive created by the existence of the tobacco industry has created even more negatives. Due to the overwhelming health detriments and lack of morality, cigarette use should indeed be banned. The existence of the tobacco industry has created a multitude of problems, including the closing of doors leading to brighter alternatives. This opinion is also spreading among the popular opinions of those in control of the media, further supporting the case that cigarettes are obviously poison, both literal and figurative. Therefore, if so should be decided on, cigarettes should be banned from use.

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