Running head: Fresh Air

A Breath of Fresh Air

Dominique C. Thompson

Rowan Cabarrus Community College

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A Breath of Fresh Air

There is a completely avoidable epidemic killing thousands of Americans today. And that
is the use of tobacco. An estimated 443,000 people die due to some form of tobacco exposure
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2012). Secondhand smoke causes 7,333
annual deaths from lung cancer (CDC, 2014). These stifling figures will just keep increasing if
we dont do anything about it. Government should ban the use of tobacco in America because it
is causing harm to the individual, people the person is around and the U.S as a whole.

People may feel that smoking helps them relax and its not hurting anyone if they take a
puff here and there. Despite the previous argument, there are many reasons for someone not to
smoke. If you knew all of the things that can go wrong in your body when you smoke, you
would give the topic more consideration. Smoking can cause perilous long term effects to an
individual. The chilling commercials about smoking really makes you put things in perspective.
In one of the commercials they asked; which is uglier? Big Tobacco's products killing 1075
smokers every day, or 137 people dying every day from secondhand smoke? The public was
asked to vote. But either way these statistics are terrible! More people die from tobacco than car
related fatalities. Big Tobacco products kill more than shark attacks, fires, floods, sky diving
accidents, car crashes, and murder combined (Ugly truth: #voteMORETHAN, n.d.).
Smoking has recently been linked to type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes.
Smokers are 30% to 40% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers. Additionally,
the more cigarettes an individual smokes, the higher the risk for diabetes (Effects of Smoking on

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Your Health, 2014). Smoking is a worthwhile habit to break. If youre younger you may think of
smoking as something that makes you look mature and cool. Health Day Reporter Steven
Reinberg says; Tobacco company ads are reaching teenagers and influencing their desire to
smoke and what brands they choose (US News, 2014). The whole goal of tobacco companies is
to get as many people as possible addicted to their products. Media helps cigarette companies
achieve that goal by perpetuating cigarettes to look cool, so it just doesnt appeal to older people
but the youth as well. I cant really blame the youth today for falling for the trap that was created
for them. In the past, smoking wasnt considered harmful. People werent aware of the hazardous
effects cigarettes could reap. It wasnt until the 1930s that health concerns about cigarettes began
to receive public attention (Cigarettes were once physician tested, approved, 2009). The 1960's
in general was a time when much of the health hazards of smoking were reported (History of
Tobacco, n.d.). There are many things that people did back then that adversely affected their
health. For example cocaine was used as an antiseptic during surgery to keep the patient asleep
and pain free (Cocaine (Topical Route), n.d.). Celebrities glamorized smoking and idolized it so
much so that it just stuck in our society. But now that we know better its our duty to inform
others and stop this habit that is deleterious to our health because its not just affecting the
smoker but the people breathing in the smoke.

I have seen second hand how smoking can affect other people. I have a friend whose
parent is detrimentally ill because of smoking. When I transitioned from homeschool to high
school I had made friends with a girl who just moved in to my community. We were in Spanish
class together. One morning she received a call from her family. They told her that her mother
had cancer due to second hand smoke. She ran out the classroom crying. This made me feel
really bad for her. Mainly because I for one, hate walking by someone who just exhaled a cloud

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of smoke and I having to hold my breath just to get by them. But for someones parent to get
cancer because of an inconsiderate act is mind blowing. No one wants to wake up to find out that
they or a loved one has cancer especially the avoidable kind of cancer. There are immediate
affects that can be detrimental to the people the smoker is around. Just five minutes of segmented
(secondhand) smoke causes changes in the aorta, 30 minutes of exposure causes change in the
coronary arteries. These are just a few of the immediate devastating effects on the individual.
This is especially true if youre pregnant. Theres a slew of things that can go wrong during
pregnancy if you smoke. The nicotine (the addictive substance in cigarettes), carbon monoxide,
and numerous other poisons you inhale from a cigarette are carried through your bloodstream
and go directly to your baby. Smoking while pregnant will: lower the amount of oxygen
available to you and your growing baby, increase your baby's heart rate, increase the chances of
miscarriage and stillbirth, increase the risk that your baby is born prematurely and/or born with
low birth weight, increase your baby's risk of developing respiratory (lung) problems, increases
risks of birth defects and increases risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (Effects of
Smoking While Pregnant: Dangers to Your Baby, 2014).

Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart diseasethe leading causes of death in the
United States (CDC, n.d.). If we banned smoking this wont be such a problem. Students would
perform better in school because they are not trying to escape from their problems and now can
put more focus on academia. The government should also provide counseling to people addicted
to cigarettes. Even in high school maybe having a workshop on how to deal with lifes problems
and coping with them. This would be a better solution than letting people slowly kill themselves
and others around them. People who smoke socially may raise the argument that smoking is fun
and banning it will encroach on their civil rights. But if you weigh out the cons of smoking you

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will see that it is not worth the money or time. Sometimes its ok to encroach on the rights of a
few to help the majority and the greater good. There are so many healthy ways you can have fun,
less addictive and detrimental ways that can help you be a better person. So, if the government
gets involved in the wellbeing of the American people it will not only help the individual become
better citizen but save the lives of many and decrease the death rate in this country.

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References

Tobacco-Related Mortality. (2014, February 6). Retrieved November 17, 2014.

US News Publisher: U.S. News & World Report Date Accessed: November 04, 2014 Health
Effects of Smoking Article Title: Effects of Smoking on Your Health
WebMD Article Title: Effects of Smoking While Pregnant: Dangers to Your Baby Publisher:
WebMD Date Accessed: November 03, 2014

The History of Tobacco. (1998, January 31). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from
http://academic.udayton.edu/health/syllabi/tobacco/history.htm#combo

Cocaine (Topical Route). (n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2014, from

http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/cocaine-topical-route/description/drg-20063139

Health Dangers of Smoking for Nonsmokers. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from
http://healthliteracy.worlded.org/docs/tobacco/Unit5/1health_dangers.html

Ugly truth: #voteMORETHAN (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2014, from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xocyXiFeCXY