The Issues of Banning Smoking
Although people know how dangerous cigarettes can be, people still tolerate its use. Some don’t. The issue is, should smoking be banned?
Smoking is the action of inhaling tobacco encased in cigarettes, pipes and cigars.
November 6, 2017
Smoking is a habit that is commonly used as a form of drug use. It is known to adults, teens, mental illness patients and even kids who make up the smoking population. These individuals who have picked up this habit feel that smoking might be the only way to cope with life’s hardships and realities which can result in long-term disease or even worse, death.
Due to the growing concerns about smoking and its effects pertaining to the nation’s health, some US States have implemented the prohibition of smoking in public. The issue on prohibiting smoking in public places has sparked debates all over America.
According to a Reuter’s Collaboration with Cecily Keheller, the senior author of the Cochrane Collaboration, the smoking ban and the smoke exposure rates and disease rates showed that “there was a 26% decrease of death from heart disease and 32% decrease in stroke deaths”. By this evidence, it shows that the ban will benefit not only smokers but the second-hand or third-hand smokers too.
“These are persuasive that these bans are beneficial,” Keheller said in an interview with Andrew Seaman, the author of Smoking bans lead to better national health.
Implementing the ban could lead to a better national health. However, there’s always an opposing side behind issues like this. Opposers argue that the smoking ban is taking over a person’s freedom.
In the article ‘The Case against a Smoke-free America’, the writer Jacob Grier defends his side on the issue. As a smoker himself, he believes that smoking as a “pure vice” should depend on a person’s decision.
“Smoking bans are the most obvious difficulty for those of us who enjoys cigars,” Grier said.
His excerpts rely on America’s increased public smoking ban and extending its policy that comes unappealing to his state. This legitimate act brought his viewpoint that “people should respect the rights of consenting adults to gather in private places and decide for themselves what to ingest into their bodies”.
All in all, he is opposed to the smoking ban.
This certain viewpoint contradicts the pro-side, leading to a divided America on the issue of prohibition on smoking in public places.
