Should Tobacco Companies Be Held Responsible for Smoking – Related Illness and Deaths?

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Should tobacco companies be held responsible for smoking – related illness and deaths? The uncovering of tobacco can be traced back to the voyage of Christopher Columbus to the brand new world where although his quest for material wealth failed he returned with an aromatic plant called tobacco (Singer 63). Through his discovery and promotion of tobacco from medicinal to a recreational legalized substance the transcendence of this product was set in motion from “independent planter, to cottage factory, to corporation” (singer 63). The development of the tobacco industry’s emergence from individualized entities to “companies so huge their revenues dwarf the gross national product of some countries and companies so powerful they can become a law unto themselves” brought about several changes from the way the product was grown to processed (Singer 64). Today smoking remains the leading preventable cause of premature mortality in the U.S, accounting for more than 440,000 deaths annually, “however, a significant number of these deaths are among non-smokers, the result of chronic inhalation of second-hand smoke” (Inciardi and McElrath 92). Although smoking is reserved as a personal choice and a wealth of information is present regarding the side effects and dangers of this behaviour, tobacco consumption is still highly debated in regards to the liability of its health consequences. An examination of the structural relationship between tobacco corporations and smoking will unveil the myriad of issues that accompany this complexity; however a more in depth focus will be directed towards on whether tobacco companies should be held liable for health impediments resulting from smoking. The severity of the issue is broad and perplexing on a multitude of levels which will be explored ranging from the cost on health care, economical costs and the real cost of

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