Persuasive Essay: Not Allowing Public Smoking

Have you ever been walking down the street and some inconsiderate person has the nerve to blow their cigarette smoke over their shoulder right into your face? Not only is that disgusting but it’s also very disrespectful. As a non-smoker I believe that if you have the right to smoke, then I have the right to not be affected by it. I do not think that smoking in any public place should be allowed. It has a negative effect not only on you, but on those around you, the youth in your community, and the entire environment.
According to the American Lung Association, Idaho scored a B in the overall smoke-free air, but they also got 3 F’s in the categories: Tobacco Prevention and Spending, Cigarette Tax, and Cessation. In 2004, Idaho met the Smokefree Air Challenge, which calls on all fifty states to pass laws that prohibit smoking in all public and work places. Idaho’s current laws are that smoking is prohibited in publicly owned buildings and offices, or at public meetings. It is also prohibited in government buildings and public or private elementary or secondary school buildings and most educational facilities (American Lung Association, 2012). I think that it should be banned from any school campus, including the colleges and universities, not just high schools, junior high, and elementary schools. It’s not like second-hand smoking becomes less harmful the more you farther your education.
When I was a young kid I remember my friends pretending to be smoking and thinking it was funny. It looked harmless. In the movies the “bad boys” always had a smoke in their mouth and one behind their ear. Society plays up smoking and portrays it as being okay. It is true that people start smoking for many different reasons: some think it will make them look cool, or fit in with a certain crowd, others start because their family members or friends smoke. Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users start before they 're 18 years old. (Hirsch, MD, 2012) Of course in your teenage years you think you’re invincible or that you’re above the rules and statistics, but you’re not. A leading cause in people starting to smoke is being exposed to it and the thought we put into their heads that it is acceptable in society when it shouldn’t be. If we banned all smoking in public, children and teenagers wouldn’t be as exposed and give into trying it.
Second-hand smoke is about just as dangerous to your health as smoking itself is. In reality most of the smoke from the cigarette does not make it all the way into the smoker’s lungs, it escapes into the air and can be inhaled by everyone nearby. The smoke of tobacco contains over 4,000 chemicals and over 50 of them are known for causing cancer. Secondhand smoking is not preventable even though smoking is. 126 million non-smokers are exposed to the smoke either at work or at home. This exposure results in 50,000 deaths in the U.S each year, but that number is only for adults. Between 150,000 and 300,000 children are infected each year with sicknesses such as pneumonia and bronchitis, of that number roughly 10,000 of them are hospitalized. (Karriem-Norwood, MD, 2012) So the next time you light up, remember you’re exhaling not just yours, but somebody else’s life away as well.
If we didn’t allow smoking in public it would help reduce the number of smokers there are. It would help people quit because they could not smoke for longer time periods than they are immune to. If you expand the amount of time passing through each smoke consistently it helps the nicotine cravings lessen. But if you really don’t think you can last through a school day it’s not like there aren’t other alternatives to getting the nicotine your body is hooked on such as chewing tobacco, or the nicotine gum. Both of those options are harmless to the people around you and will not result in you intoxicating their bodies too.
In conclusion, I don’t think smoking should be allowed publicly because it portrays the wrong message to the youth and is a leading cause in people trying and becoming addicted in the first place. Also because it doesn’t just affect the person smoking, it affects everyone around them and puts others at risk for major health problems. If we didn’t allow smoking in public it would reduce the number of people smoking and better the environment.

Citations:
American Lung Association. (2012). Slati state information: Idaho. Retrieved from http://www.lungusa2.org/slati/statedetail.php?stateId=16
Hirsch, MD, L. (2012, March). Smoking. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html
Karriem-Norwood, MD, V. (2012, May 12). Effects of secondhand smoke. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/effects-of-secondhand-smoke

Citations: American Lung Association. (2012). Slati state information: Idaho. Retrieved from http://www.lungusa2.org/slati/statedetail.php?stateId=16 Hirsch, MD, L. (2012, March). Smoking. Retrieved from http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html Karriem-Norwood, MD, V. (2012, May 12). Effects of secondhand smoke. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/effects-of-secondhand-smoke