Haas 1

Jenna Haas
English 101H CRN 83311
Professor McKeever
20 November 2015
Word Count: 514
Should the Authorities Ban Cigarette Smoking?
Smoking is a real problem in the world taking the lives of many clutched in its grasp.
Initially, people smoke for experimentation and recreational purposes. Many people find
smoking helps to relieve tension and allows them to feel better about life. Still others smoke to
control their weight. In spite of the restrictions placed on cigarette advertising, it continues to be
the most heavily advertised product in the United States (Jacobs). The tobacco industry is
lucrative and as such, producers continue to aggressively market the product. Unfortunately, the
industry minimizes the host of medical problems it generates. Some health problems generated
by smoking include cancer, anxiety, coughing, blood clotting, heart disease, high cholesterol,
visual changes, problems with pregnancy and early menopause. Science has confirmed that
smoking creates pain and suffering for those who engage in it and, the people around them, so
why should society continue to tolerate smoking? I believe smoking should be outlawed to
protect the health of the individual and society in general.
According to CQ researcher, More americans are smoking every yearundeterred by a
growing-mass of medical evidence indicating that the cigarette habit may impair their health and
shorten their lives(CQ Researcher). I feel action should be taken to stop our youth from
becoming addicted to tobacco. One solution to the problem of cigarette smoking, without
outright banning it, is to restrict its use to adults. A weakness with this approach is that it may not

Haas 2
be enough to stop teens from obtaining and subsequently becoming hooked on cigarettes. Many
stressed teens may start to smoke to relieve tension. Rebellious youth may smoke just due to the
fact that its not accepted by the majority of the populace.
Another solution to the smoking problem is to restrict its use to certain places. The more
society restricts its use, the more difficult it will be to be to engage in the habit. Unfortunately,
those compelled to smoke will still journey to the places where they can inhale the toxic smoke.
Smoking is permitted and prevalent in many foreign countries. Today's, highly mobile youth can
be exposed to smoking when visiting foreign lands where the negative effects of smoking are
ignored.
A third solution to this problem is to restrict its use by raising the taxes on tobacco
products. It is thought that fewer people will be drawn to smoking if it burns a big hole in their
wallet. The main weakness to this solution is that the taxes are being raised on this product but
people continue to buy and use it.
Outlawing cigarette smoking is superior to either of these methods because solution one
cannot completely stop youth from obtaining and becoming addicted to tobacco products.
Solution two fails as those who are addicted to nicotine continue to find places to engage in the
habit and often expose others to it in the process. Outlawing is superior to just raising the taxes
because it would prohibit the manufacture and sale of tobacco products and as such, make it very
difficult for people, whatever the cost, to obtain the products.

Works Cited

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I couldnt really find the citation due to not being able to open the full report on CQ. but I do
have the

URL: http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?

id=cqresrre1967112400

Jacobs, Marjorie. "Cigarette Advertising." Health & Literacy Special Collection. N.p., n.d. Web.
13 Dec. 2015.