Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the world and 90% of lung cancer patients developed lung cancer because of smoking. There are around 400 chemicals inside a cigarette and a large amount of it is toxic to your body. A few examples of chemicals are benzene (found in crude oil), Acetone (An ingredient in nail polish), turpentine (paint thinner) and nicotine, a highly addictive drug. Smoking contributes to your risk of coronary heart disease. This disease increases your likelihood or having a heart attack.
More or less it’s been good and bad. I ask why hasn’t marijuana been legalized across the country only because America has accepted much worse. There are substances sold daily that are far more damaging to the people of United States and its communities. Alcohol and tobacco is a substance that can cause long-term and short-term damage to the body. Alcohol alone can cause “high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, digestive problems” as well as depression, anxiety, and more (Alcohol and Public Health, 2014).
It has become one of the world’s largest industries. The most common disease obtained from smoking is lung cancer. In today’s world the link between smoking and lung cancer is positive, according to pharmaceutical company and leading oncology research house AstraZeneca, “smoking is the reason for at least 30% of all cancer-related deaths and 87% of lung cancer deaths. About 50% of new lung cancers are diagnosed in current smokers.” Other diseases include: Cardiovascular disease, coronary thrombosis, cerebral thrombosis, high blood pressure and kidney failure. These percentages are extremely high and it almost seems as if people are happy with paying towards their own deaths.
Many experts will also tell you second hand smoking is more dangerous than first hand, because of the unfiltered smoke containing 50 more cancerous substances than filtered cigarette smoke. The individuals affected by second hand smoke are the most tragic. These people reap the consequences of a dangerous habit they made no decision to partake
Smoking cigarettes is by far the main contributor to lung cancer. Cigarette smoke contains over 60 known carcinogens. The time a person smokes, as well as the rate of smoking, increases the person’s chance of developing lung cancer. If a person stops smoking, this chance steadily decreases as damage to the lungs is repaired and cancer causing agents are gradually removed. Tobacco companies are not responsible for what people do in their free time they are simply making a product that people like and making money in the meantime.
Before I talk about the direct policy on smoking, I thought I would share some facts about tobacco. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths among both men and women in the United States. Smoking-related deaths/health issues effect an estimated four hundred and thirty eight thousand American lives each year. Ninety percent of lung cancer deaths among men and eighty percent of lung cancer deaths among women are attributed to smoking. People who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked.
One of the most problematic health issues in our country is smoking.. Lung cancer is the leading cause of death in America, due to its harmful contents. Although thousands of people die from it each year, it is one of the single, most preventable deaths. If tobacco production were made illegal, an enormous amount of lives would be saved. Currently in our country one in five deaths are caused by a smoking related disease (Tobacco).
A well-known public health administrator C. Everett Koop once stated that ‘cigarette smoking is identified as the chief, preventable cause of death in our society’. This point of view has been proven by various studies to lead to health complications (including -due to blood clotting in the brain-, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure and erectile dis-function). Smoking itself is the single preeminent cause of death in the United States, causing 1/5 deaths (CDC, 2014). This habit is known for not only causing health deficits but worsening already-present ones; asthma attacks can be prompted by tobacco smoking and smoking can augment the gravity of said attacks. Smoking has also be found to effect fertility and the risk of stillbirth.
People who are in support of the prohibition against marijuana claim that the drug is unhealthy and dangerous. Yet the two most deadly drugs in America, alcohol and tobacco, are legal and regulated. Those two drugs are more addictive and deadly than marijuana. It would be best to legalize marijuana and control it in the same manner as alcohol and tobacco. Alcohol contributes to 41,000 fatal accidents a year; worldwide alcohol is the cause for four percent of all deaths, more than AIDS and violence (Armentano, 2012, para.
Thirteen million people over the age of twelve have tried one of the most addicting substances known to man at least once. Out of those thirteen million 529,000 of them became regular users the United States government reported in 2008. This addictive substance is methamphetamine or meth for short. This stimulant can boost mood, increase feelings of well being, and increase energy and alertness, however it has some very dangerous side effect, which include but are not limited to high blood pressure, accelerated heart rate, and even death. Meth is considered one of the greatest drug threats to our nation with its affects costing anywhere between $16.2 and $48.3 billion dollars a year according to the U.S. Department of Justice.