Should Cigarette Smoking Be Banned?

Smoking is an expensive habit. People who smoke cigarettes can spend as much as $2,500 a year on them. Smokers’ claim that it helps relax them and it releases stress but the negative aspects of smoking outweigh the positive. Smoking is a health hazard for smokers and non-smokers. Smokers should have the right to choose what to do with their own health but they should respect non-smokers. Many people believe that there are good and bad outcomes from smoking. I believe that smoking is bad and that it should be banned. Many people think that smoking is a sign of coolness but in fact it damages the body. Cigarettes contain nicotine which is an addictive substance and that is why it is hard for smokers to stop smoking. Smoking can damage the lungs, the heart, and causes other diseases. The most important reason to ban smoking is the effects on smokers and second hand smokers. About 400,000 Americans die each year from diseases cause by cigarette smoking. The biggest killers are lung cancer, other smoking related cancers, and heart disease. Smoking cigarettes causes more deaths than AIDS, illegal drug use, alcohol abuse, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders. If there are non-smokers around smokers, they breathe the same air and that is not good. Non-smokers even have a higher rate of attaining diseases when they are around cigarette smoke. When children breath in cigarette smoke, they have an increase risk for childhood illnesses such as asthma and ear infections. Smoking also affects pregnancy and newborn children. Cigarette smoking and smokeless tobacco use during pregnancy pose serious risks to fetal heath. Many people do not know what ingredients are in cigarettes and why they may be harmful to them. The money spent on smoking is one of the reasons why we need to ban smoking. “In 2008, the price of a pack of cigarettes ranged from $4 to more than $7. In addition, the Center for Disease Control estimates that, on average, every pack of cigarettes smoked