Outlaw of Smoking Cigarettes We all know that smoking cigarettes is bad; we know that it is unhealthy and will eventually kill you. Yet people still continue to smoke, what will it take to get people to actually take initiative to quit and save themselves and those around them? With the side effects of smoking being a huge problem, the bans that have already been setup to try and control the problem, and the possible substitute for cigarettes, lawmakers need to make smoking cigarettes illegal. Smoking has been around for over a century, it was cool and in style at a time, but that time has long past, with all the research that has been conducted coming out with tons of side effects towards smoking. A huge side effect being the death toll as mentioned by a clinical study “More than 400,000 American lives are lost every year to cigarette smoking … ” (Ridner). The American Cancer Society even says “smoking [is] the single most preventable cause of death in the United States today” (“Smoking” 1). You would think people would want to stop being exposed to smoke in public places. Another side effect is second hand smoke. The scenario where someone else’s doing puts your own health at risk while you are just walking on a sidewalk next to someone that is smoking. Smokers have their designated smoking areas but its not enough. The smoke still travels through the air and does its damage. Being exposed to second hand smoke on a regular basis can be just as bad as smoking a cigarette yourself:
… secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure increases morbidity and mortality in individuals through the development of conditions such as asthma, coronary heart disease, and lung cancer. (Kalkhoran 1)
The side effects of smoking clearly express the need to make smoking cigarettes against the law. In America, depending on which states you are in there are smoking bans to try and protect people against second hand smoke. These bans consist of smokers not being able to smoke unless in a designated area that says they are free to smoke. The problem with this is that with having designated areas for smokers to smoke in not every area can be designated as a non-smoking area. The basic bans that are in place now restrict smokers from smoking in most indoor places such as: workplaces, airplanes, hospitals, restaurants, public transportation services, schools etc. For the places that are outdoors such as amusement parks, outdoor sporting venues, and public parks there is usually a small area designated for smokers, but many people still smoke outside of these areas and make it difficult for non-smokers to get away from the smoke. In addition smoking areas such as parking lots and walkways, are also filled with people smoking. The people who don’t smoke still walk past it and get the disgusting smell of a cigarette, breathing in the bitter scent of burning tobacco as it enters and cakes their lungs with ash. The problem is no matter how much you ban, people will continue to light up when and where they want, with no regard to the designated smoking areas and the people they were put in place to protect As a result of smoking being outlawed, there will be a problem with the addiction aspect of people not being able to quit smoking right away, which would cause people to break the law. To assist people in quitting, alternatives to the regular cigarette have been created, and are being used today. They are called electronic cigarettes and are significantly less harmful then a normal cigarette. The electronic cigarette