Persuasive Essay: Smoking

Should Smoking be banned in America?

Smoking in public places should be banned. This popular practice is harmful not only for the individual’s health, but also for surrounding environment. Smoking harms body. Smoking kills more Americans than AIDS, drug abuse, car accidents and crime. Detrimental effects from smoking include lung cancer, heart disease and death. More recently, local government entities are moving towards the banning of smoking in public places. Today smoking is a pleasure for some, a dumb habit for so many people and it is a cancer for few. 

 First of all, Fashionable smoking can lead to lung cancer. Tobacco smoke contains chemicals that are harmful for both smokers and non-smokers. Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be bad for the lungs. According to the Centers for deceases control and prevention, smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer death in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women. If a pregnant woman smokes, she has a greater chance of medical problems with her baby. Lung cancer has caused more deaths in women than breast cancer. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of cancer death in men. Male smokers over the age of 35 are more likely to die from smoking-related diseases.

            Next, this dangerous practice is also the reason for numerous heart diseases. According to the Centers do diseases control and prevention, smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries) and puts smokers at risk of developing peripheral vascular disease. It can also cause obstruction of the large arteries in the arms and legs that can cause a range of problems from pain to tissue loss or gangrene. Cigarette smoking not only increases the risk of developing an abdominal aortic aneurysm, the chance of aneurysm rupture (a life-threatening complication of abdominal aneurysm) is also more common among active smokers.

            According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is the second leading cause of deaths all around the globe. The WHO estimates that 10 percent of all deaths are smoking related, which comes out to about five million people each year. This number is expected to grow to 10 million by 2020. Half of all smokers will die from their tobacco use. That's about 325 million deaths total. Some of the larger American cities like New York and Columbus, Ohio, have found success with implementing such policies. It will take many years after a city passes such laws to determine how many smoking deaths they are able to prevent. 

            Quitting smoking has major health benefits that start right away. This is true for people who already have a smoking-related disease as well as those who don’t. Quitting smoking lowers the risk of lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. But the sad part of this reality is that many children start smoking before they reach high school. They run the risk of smoking most of their lives. So, I think smoking should be banned in United states of America because it is not good for people’s health.