In the United States there has been
a rise in concern about the health effects smoking has on individuals and the
individuals who live with smokers.
Because of these concerns many states and cities have banned smoking in
public areas like parks, businesses, and restaurants. I support these laws because I do not think
people who dislike smoking should have to be in the presence of lit cigarettes
while they are in public. However, I am
concerned about the fact that there has even been talk of making cigarettes
illegal altogether. Personally I do not
think the government should be allowed to illegalize smoking. Let me be clear that I do not support smoking
in any way. My dad has been smoking
since before I was born, and the number of health issues he has had because of it
has completely turned me off smoking in any form, but I still do not think the
government should be allowed to illegalize it.
People should have the choice to pick whether they want to or not. The biggest reason the government has is that
people need to be healthy. But when I
hear that it also means to me that they are saying it will make people
healthier is their reason for the law. This leads me to think about diet and
exercise. Those also make people
healthier. An article in Time Magazine says that would be the best way to make
health care cheaper and easier. If they
are going to ban cigarettes on the basis of health, then shouldn’t the government
also regulate diets and exercise. According to an article on Health Habits the
top 12 leading causes of preventable death were:
1. Smoking:
467,000 deaths.
2. High blood
pressure: 395,000 deaths.
3. Overweight-obesity:
216,000 deaths.
4. Inadequate
physical activity and inactivity: 191,000 deaths.
5. High blood
sugar: 190,000 deaths.
6. High LDL
cholesterol: 113,000 deaths.
7. High dietary
salt: 102,000 deaths.
8. Low dietary
omega-3 fatty acids (seafood): 84,000 deaths.
9. High dietary
trans fatty acids: 82,000 deaths.
10. Alcohol use:
64,000 deaths.
11. Low intake of
fruits and vegetables: 58,000 deaths.
12. Low dietary
poly-unsaturated fatty acids: 15,000 deaths.
Smoking may be at the top of the list, but look at the next
11. They all have to do with bad diets and
lack of exercise. So how can the
government justify banning cigarettes on the basis of its bad for public
health, when the rest of the leading causes are just as easily preventable. The government would never get away with regulating
those things, so why should it get away with illegalizing cigarettes?
I agree that the government shouldn’t be able to illegalize cigarettes. We have the right to do whatever we want so long as we don’t cause harm to others, so we should be able to smoke if we want. Some people might argue that cigarette smoke is harmful to others, and they’re right, it is. But alcohol can be just as dangerous. People drive drunk all of the time and accidents happen, clearly, as we heard about the wreck this weekend. There’s nothing anyone can do about that. However, when someone is smoking, you have the option to stay away from them. That’s your choice if you are around them when they’re smoking and smokers shouldn’t be penalized for that. Everyone says history repeats itself and trying to illegalize cigarettes is a prime example of this. Look how well the ban on alcohol worked. It was in effect for only about 13 years, then eventually it was lifted and people could freely drink again. I think the same thing would happen with cigarettes, it will be like a summer fling and then everything would return to the way it was before.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would like to ban cigarettes, I don’t think it would be possible. I think we would just see a repeat of the moonshiners during prohibition. It would make a lot of good people break the law because they are already addicted. The only way to get rid of cigarettes efficiently would be to set a date and say that everyone born after that date wouldn't ever be able to buy cigarettes. Fifty years from then, most of the people that had been using them before the ban will probably dead and that should all but eliminate smoking. The problem is, I don’t think anyone in Congress would go for it and I know the cigarette companies would fight it with their last smoky breath.
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