Every year thousands of people die because of lung cancer or other tobaccorelated illnesses. Everyone in the world comes in contact with smoke from acigarette at least once in their lifetime, whether it is at a restaurant or atwork. Millions of people are addicted to smoking, and thousands more becomeaddicted every year. Cigarettes and other tobacco products are everywhere. Mostof the addicted smokers started when they were young (Roberts 18). The reasonwhy people get addicted to any type of tobacco product is because all tobaccoproducts have nicotine in them, which is the addictive ingredient (AmericanThoracic Society 22). Every time a person smokes a cigarette or chews tobacco,that person ingests nicotine. I believe that the tobacco companies should beliable for every tobacco-related death each year. On the other hand, some peoplebelieve that everyone has a right to make their own judgment about their life.
My opponent, Rosalind Marimont argues drugs and alcohol are more dangerous tosociety than tobacco (26). Second hand smoking is not a danger to the health ofthe community (Marimont 26). There are health benefits for people that do smoketobacco (Marimont 27). So many people quit smoking each year, it is soridiculous to think that tobacco products are addicting argues RichardDeGrandpre (39). The facts about tobacco and tobacco products have been shadedby the government and government agencies to make smoking less acceptable andmore inconvenient to smokers and tobacco users Sullum argues (55). My opponentsfirmly believe that there are no risks if a person starts smoking. As you willsee, I will show extenuating facts that disprove my opponents views on tobaccoproducts. My opponent states that smoking is not dangerous, however, I intend toprove that smoking is dangerous not just to smokers, but to everyone as well. Itis a proven fact that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease (AmericanThoracic Society 19). Every person that breathes the smoke of tobacco productsis at risk for tobacco-related illnesses. Even though smoking is not aspublicized by the media as much as illegal drugs, cigarettes are just as bad.
Smoking cigarettes leads to the use of other drugs that are more harmful to theperson than cigarettes (Hall 22). If smoking was not dangerous, then why isthere a commercial on television telling the viewer that the tobacco companieskill 1000 people everyday? The statistics on the number of people that die eachyear in the United States from tobacco or tobacco-related illness isastonishing. Over four hundred thousand people die each year from smoking(American Thoracic Society 19). Also, a person age twenty-five that is a heavysmoker has a life expectancy that is twenty-five percent less than a person thatdoes not smoke (American Thoracic Society 19). more For something that is not ahazard to peoples health, they sure do account for a lot of deaths that occureach year. I do not see how my opponent can contend that secondhand smoke is nota heath hazard to the rest of the community. Secondhand smoke affects everyonebecause it goes into the air. We (nonsmokers) can not protect ourselves fromother peoples cigarette smoke (Garrision 44). Everyone breaths, therefore, ifyou are sitting next to someone that smokes, you are probably getting a somesmoke in your lungs. This happens because when smoke goes into the air, itdisappears into the oxygen. As you breath in oxygen, you also breath in aminimal amount of the cigarette smoke. In 1986, a surgeon generals report wasreleased that stated smoke from tobacco products can cause cancer in healthynon-smoking adults (Garrision 45). It has been proven that secondhand smoke cancause lung cancer and other tobacco-related illnesses in people that do notsmoke (Garrision 45). Yet the tobacco companies continue to deny that the smokeof cigarettes cause these illnesses to non-users of tobacco (Garrision 47). TheEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) has estimated that secondhand smoke is thecause of over three thousand deaths from lung cancer each year (Garrison 44).
Smoking has also been linked to colon cancer. Even if you quit smoking, yourrisk of colon cancer remains higher than if you had never started smoking (Keyishian13). Many people are aware of the harmful effects of secondhand smoke and agreewith restrictions and/or a total ban on smoking in public (Garrision 48).
Tobacco products should be regulated by the Food and Drug Administration becauseit affects not only smokers, but non-smokers as well. As you can see, smoke fromtobacco products does affect everyone in one way or another. I agree with myopponent that smokers are usually less obese (Marimont 27). However, justbecause there are a couple of health benefits that not mean that smoking isbetter for everyone. People who smoke are not able to perform exercises for anylength of time (Hall 22). Smoking reduces the amount of air the lungs can takein and it makes breathing difficult when running or walking ( Keyishian 15). Inthe early nineties, one in every five deaths were caused by smoking or usingtobacco products (American Thoracic Society 19). Hundreds of thousands of peopledie each year because of tobacco products, whether the person dies from lungcancer, throat cancer, or emphysema (Hall 22). Pregnant women that smoke duringtheir pregnancy will have a child that is born with a low birthweight andpremature mortality (American Thoracic Society23). Smoking with a small child inthe house could cause the child to develop asthma or other respiratory problems(America Thoracic Society 23). If a woman smokes while pregnant, she could havea child that has a lower intelligence and behavior problems (America ThoracicSociety 22). Just like cocaine and heroin, cigarettes can cause a user tohave withdrawal symptoms after a period of not getting the nicotine he/she needs(American Thoracic Society 23). If the smoker does not get their nicotine fix,he/she could become irritable, have anxiety, difficulty concentrating and theirappetite may increase (American Thoracic Society 23). The smoker may believethat if he/she does not get their nicotine and gets hungry, he/she may seethemselves gaining weight. If gaining a little weight will help you live longerand with fewer health conditions, then I believe the weight it worth it. Thelonger you are not smoking, the less of a chance you will have to get cancer orother health problems from tobacco products (American Thoracic Society 23). Howcan the benefits of smoking out weight the risks involved, especially when itinvolves innocent children? These children are the future of the world and ifthey smoke, there life expectancy will diminish greatly with every cigarettethey smoke. If the children die, then we, the human race, have no future.
Richard DeGrandpre contends that nicotine is not an addictive drug in tobaccoproducts (39). The nicotine in tobacco has met the criteria for it to be ahighly addictive and toxic drug to people who use it (Douglas 34). The youth oftoday are becoming smokers more and more everyday (Bonnie 24). Statistics haveproven that underage smoking has been rising. In 1993, statistics proved thatthere were more than three million children smoking in the United States (Bonnie24). The tobacco companies contend that nicotine is not addictive, however, theFood and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency havereleased numerous reports on the addictiveness of nicotine (Douglas 34). Smokingis inhaling and exhaling of smoke from a tobacco product (“Smoking” 430).
Look, nicotine is used to kill insects and parasites, just think about what isdoing to the body of smokers. A smoker may start out just smoking a couplecigarettes a day, but the more the person smokes the higher their dependency onnicotine gets (Douglas 34). Just like other drugs, the user develops a tolerancewhich causes them to use more to get the effect he/she wants (Douglas 34). Thisis how the government connects nicotine to other drugs, because of itsaddictiveness. Nicotine has been classified as a habit-forming drug (Keyishian14). Nicotine is not the only ingredient that is bad for the human body. Thereare many other harmful chemicals in cigarettes such as “arsenic, ammonia,carbon monoxide, methane, acetone,” and many more (Douglas 33). Thesechemicals can be very dangerous in large quantities by themselves. I cannot seehow anyone can smoke something with so many harmful chemicals in it. Everyperson that smokes or breathes in smoke from tobacco products are killingthemselves whether it is their choice or not. My opponents state that thegovernment has shaded statistics to make smoking less acceptable. I do notunderstand how anyone can shade statistical information. Studies have proven howbad tobacco products are for tobacco users and non-tobacco users. Overthirty-seven thousand nonsmokers die of heart-disease each year (Garrision 45).
It is estimated that over thirteen thousand non-smokers die from other cancerseach year (Garrision 45). Between one hundred and fifty thousand and threehundred thousand cases of lower respiratory-tract infections for childrenunder eighteen months were reportedly linked to secondhand smoke exposure(Garrison 45). “The Environmental Protection Agency did a study of women wholived with a smoker and those women are 1.19 times more likely to get lungcancer. A female smoker is ten times more likely to get lung cancer than anonsmoking female. A male smoker is about twenty times more likely to get lungcancer than a nonsmoking male (Sullum 53).” The Center for Disease Control (CDC),did a study on the cigarettes used most by teenagers. The results were thatteenagers smoke the most advertised brand of cigarettes (Bailey 74). Thestatistical data from government agencies such as the Food and DrugAdministration, the Center for Disease Control, and the Environmental ProtectionAgency is hard concrete facts about the effects of smoking on the human body. Asyou can see, there is more than enough evidence to support the Food and DrugAdministrations claim of serious health risks from tobacco products. The Foodand Drug Administration wants to be able to regulate tobacco advertising so itmay cut down on the number of teens that start smoking each year. Study afterstudy has proven that with smoking comes major health risks. Even people that donot smoke are at risk of these heath problems. Statistics do not lie, onethousand people die everyday from tobacco or tobacco related illnesses.
Statistical data can not be altered in any way nor can they be shaded by anyone.
Tobacco products are not going to go away for good, however the Food and DrugAdministration should be given the authority to regulate the advertising oftobacco companies. The only product the Food and Drug Administration can notregulate is the manufacture, sale, packaging, and distribution of tobaccoproducts (Douglas 33). If the advertisements can be cut down, then manyteenagers will not be influenced to try them as much as they are now. Given thiscompromise, the tobacco companies will still get money from the people that arealready addicted, but it will greatly reduce the amount of money they make eachyear. Tobacco products are always going to be around, but I hope that the Foodand Drug Administration will be able to regulate them for the safety of not onlyadults, but for all of the children as well.
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