Deborah Barwuah
English 100
Professor John Stanzinski
26th June, 2014 Cigarette is made of tobacco and additives which undergo complex chemical processes to form smoke that contains more than 4000 chemicals, including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, nicotine, ammonia, arsenic and vinyl chloride. These chemicals are harmful and addictive. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a federal agency, 44.5 million Americans are cigarette smokers—approximately one-fifth of the population. Ages of active cigarette smokers ranges from sixteen years to late elderly age. Tobacco remains one of the most addictive substances legally available in the world. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States; it causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. Smoking is addictive, it causes death and sickness such as cancer to both active and passive smokers and waste of money, I believe smoking should be illegal and ban. Smoking affects the population in many ways. It affects smokers' health. Secondhand smoke affects others and pollutes the environment. The involuntary inhaling of smoke from other people's cigarettes has just as much potential to affect one’s health in adverse ways. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, children and pregnant women are more victims to passive smoking and are susceptible to the effects of secondhand smoke because they are growing and developing. Children exposed to secondhand smoke have increased risks of sudden infant death syndrome, middle ear infection, asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis. Smoking causes air pollution and by passers are mostly affected with diseases. Active smokers have higher risk of skin and lung cancer. Smoking cigarettes is the number-one risk factor for lung cancer. The immune system is the body’s way of protecting itself from infection and disease. Smoking compromises the immune system, making smokers more likely to have respiratory infections. All these risk factors prove why smoking should be ban. More people are dying due to the harmful effects of smoking. Younger children and pregnant women who are mere passive or secondhand smokers suffer the same risk as active smokers. These innocent people are getting sick from smoking. Smoking habit puts a financial burden on society. According to the CDC, this burden continues to rise, with approximately $193 billion spent annually in the United States. This financial burden affects both the family of the smoker and the country as a whole. If the average pack of cigarettes costs $4.50 to $5, a pack-a-day smoker spends an estimated $1,600 annually. Over a lifetime, the cost of cigarettes alone can add up to over $200,000, not including the other costs that go along with smoking. Addictive smokers sometimes borrow money from people to buy cigarette. Smokers pay more for insurance due to smoking related diseases. They lose money on the resale of their cars and homes. They spend extra on dry cleaning. Because smokers stain their clothes with cigarette ashes and scent, they often spend extra money on teeth cleaning. Smoking cost the government and the society money. All the money wasted on smoking can be used for building roads and other infrastructure.

Tobacco use is a form of drug addiction. Experimentation frequently leads to daily use of tobacco. So why is this addictive? Nicotine is a drug that is naturally present in the tobacco plant and is primarily responsible for a person’s addiction to tobacco products, including cigarettes. During smoking, nicotine enters the lungs and is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and travels to the brain in a matter of seconds. Nicotine causes addiction to cigarettes and other tobacco products that is similar to the addiction produced by using drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Smoking is highly addictive that is why it takes years and helpful tools such as