Isabel Pacin 

Engl 11000

December 6, 2023  

Cigarettes. Should they be Illegal? 

    In 1989 the United States made the production and sale of items with Asbestos in it illegal. Why? Because if you breathe in asbestos fibers repeatedly over a long period of time you can get lung cancer. If the United States banned the use of Asbestos in products because breathing it in gives you cancer then why are cigarettes legal? Why are we permitting citizens to get addicted and die from Lung Cancer? In this essay I will discuss the many negative effects of cigarettes on society as well as arguing that cigarettes should be banned because they are bad for the environment and toxic to human beings. 

     Did you know that cigarettes are actually the most littered item on the planet?  An estimated 4.5 trillion cigarettes are discarded each year worldwide. That’s an estimated 13,558 cigarettes littered per person within the United States. Cigarettes should be banned because they are bad for the environment and wildlife. Cigarette waste can pollute soil, beaches, and waterways. A cigarette butt on the sidewalk causes pollution by being carried as runoff to drains and from there to rivers, beaches and oceans. They ultimately pollute public beaches like Coney Island and Brighton Beach. Studies show that, “as little as one cigarette butt has the ability to kill at least ½ of the fish that made contact with the polluted water” (CDC). Cigarettes are harmful to domesticated animals like dogs and cats as well. Pets that live with frequent smokers are “6x times more likely to develop allergies, infections, lung cancer, stroke, and heart disease” (PETA). Cigarette smoke even contributes to air pollution. Cigarette smoke consists of toxic air pollutants like nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons, and cigarettes produce 10 times more air pollution than diesel car exhaust. Not to mention that soil polluted by cigarette waste/smoke makes it hard for plants to draw healthy nutrients from the dirt.

    Cigarettes should be banned because they are toxic and actively harm people. Did you remember those outlandish anti-smoking campaigns from when you were a child? The ones where smokers were missing teeth, or had holes in their throats from smoking? Well they weren’t wrong. Cigarettes and their smoke contain diverse carcinogens that wreak havoc on our bodies. These carcinogens cause cancer, lung diseases, strokes, diabetes, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.  Smoking also increases risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis. More than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking; that’s the same amount of people who live in New York State. Now I know many of you might be thinking,“Why should I care about these diseases? I don’t smoke!” but what if I told you smoking causes harm to even non-smokers? Even if you yourself don’t smoke, secondhand smoke can be deadly. Secondhand cigarette smoke contributes to “approximately 41,000 deaths among nonsmoking adults and 400 deaths in infants each year” (World Health Organization).  For every person who dies because of smoking, at least 30 people live with a serious smoking-related illness. Smoking affects the health and wellbeing of everyone whether you smoke or not. 

   The harm cigarettes cause extends beyond physical or ecological harm. Cigarettes should be banned because they act as a gateway to illegal substances. The addictive components of cigarettes make you more susceptible to the addictive components of drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. Studies show that over 90% of adult cocaine users between the ages of 18 and 34 had smoked cigarettes before they began using cocaine (CDC). Cigarettes even have an effect on a drug addict’s recovery. Turns out that Drug users who had never smoked a cigarette before were almost two times more likely to enter a successful recovery than cigarette smoking drug users. Cigarettes also have irreconcilable harm on children and teenagers. When smoked by teens, cigarettes almost always lead to serious drug use. People ages 12 to 15 who smoked cigarettes were 44 times more likely to use crack. Cigarettes create a habit within teens of being addicted to something. It starts a codependent relationship between teens and substances. As a society we should be protecting our youth. According to the American Lung Association, “Every day, almost 2,500 children under 18 years of age try their first cigarette, and more than 400 of them will become new, regular daily smokers. Half of them will ultimately die from their habit”.  And while technically you must be 18 and older to buy cigarettes, we all know that there are ways for teens to bypass these rules. By outlawing cigarettes we would be preventing potential drug addicts from ever getting addicted as well as protecting our youth from entering cycles of drug abuse. 

     Many might argue that whether or not cigarettes are harmful, it’s people’s right to do what they want with their bodies and we shouldn’t be interfering. Bodily autonomy is a really valuable right within the United States and I understand that, but no one complains that drugs are outlawed because of how dangerous they are, or that drunk driving is illegal because it can kill people. I feel that smoking should be a part of these public safety laws because similar to drugs and drunk driving, smoking has the ability to kill not only smokers but non-smokers as well. 

    There’s no doubt that cigarettes ruin lives, but they don’t have to. By banning cigarettes within the United States we would be creating a healthier society and world for citizens to live in. We would be eliminating pollution, ending cycles of addiction and improving the general health of many citizens. The evidence and statistics back this up. The Center for Disease Control, World Health Organization, and The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services all report the same information, cigarettes are dangerous and hurt our society in many different ways. While all of these changes might sound difficult, none of them are impossible. If the United States government makes companies halt cigarette production asap and give stores and citizens 5 years to take all cigarettes out of circulation, we could be looking at a safer world for ourselves AND the ones we love. It’s time that the United States say “Goodbye” to Cigarettes and “Hello” to a healthier world. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

“About Smoke and Health: Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District.” Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District | Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, www.ourair.org/about-smoke-and-health/#:~:text=Smoke%20primarily%20consists%20of%20particles,make%20existing%20health%20conditions%20worse. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023. 

“How Is Smoke Affecting My Plants?” ANR Blogs, ucanr.edu/blogs/blogcore/postdetail.cfm?postnum=43662#:~:text=Conversely%2C%20smoke%20and%20ash%20particles,plants%20but%20good%20for%20us. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023. 

“Cancer.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 Apr. 2021, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/cancer/index.htm. 

“Who Raises Alarm on Tobacco Industry Environmental Impact.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, www.who.int/news/item/31-05-2022-who-raises-alarm-on-tobacco-industry-environmental-impact. Accessed 5 Dec. 2023. 

“Why Nicotine Is a Gateway Drug.” National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2 Oct. 2015, www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/why-nicotine-gateway-drug#:~:text=Scientists%20have%20long%20recognized%20that,before%20they%20began%20using%20cocaine.