Smoking Pursuasive Essay
Daniel
Mr. Drake
February 21, 2012
ENG-3U1
Tobacco, The World’s Calamitous necessity
I’m sure we are all aware of the affliction tobacco causes in long term use. We have all sat through presentations where we witness the effects of tobacco. You might ask yourself, Why do we allow cigarettes if they are so harmful? Why don’t we just ban the drug? What I am about to tell you is the truth about why we want to tolerate tobacco. Each and every one of us craves the benefits of tobacco even if we have yet to try it. Tobacco should remain legalized. Tobacco sales provide a huge boost to the economy, banning Tobacco would boost crime rates and tobacco is already ingrained in society. The first truth about tobacco is that taxes from tobacco provide a huge income to Canada. Last year alone Canada generated well over a whopping 7 billion dollars (Tax Revenues from Tobacco Sales). I’m sure we are all aware of Canada’s billions of dollars of debt and how it continues to grow larger and larger each year. If we were to ban tobacco in Canada would only be digger a bigger hole in terms of debt, and be forced to cut funding to other public facilities. One might argue, is costing too much money in healthcare? Simply no, in 2002 Canada was estimated to only spend 4.4 billion dollars on tobacco in healthcare costs leaving the rest of the tobacco revenue to fund progressive public facilities such as schools, library’s, and anti-smoking campaigns to keep the children safe(Economic Costs). Would we really want to cut more funding to schools and libraries? I have an Uncle who is a well upstanding, virtuous officer who fights drugs on a daily basis. You might think an officer like he would be all for banning drugs, but that would be incorrect. My Uncle says “Banning marijuana and tobacco is and would be a waste of time and money”. He has a point doesn’t he? Police resources are already being strained and diminished on the failing war on drugs, adding tobacco would only make
Mr. Drake
February 21, 2012
ENG-3U1
Tobacco, The World’s Calamitous necessity
I’m sure we are all aware of the affliction tobacco causes in long term use. We have all sat through presentations where we witness the effects of tobacco. You might ask yourself, Why do we allow cigarettes if they are so harmful? Why don’t we just ban the drug? What I am about to tell you is the truth about why we want to tolerate tobacco. Each and every one of us craves the benefits of tobacco even if we have yet to try it. Tobacco should remain legalized. Tobacco sales provide a huge boost to the economy, banning Tobacco would boost crime rates and tobacco is already ingrained in society. The first truth about tobacco is that taxes from tobacco provide a huge income to Canada. Last year alone Canada generated well over a whopping 7 billion dollars (Tax Revenues from Tobacco Sales). I’m sure we are all aware of Canada’s billions of dollars of debt and how it continues to grow larger and larger each year. If we were to ban tobacco in Canada would only be digger a bigger hole in terms of debt, and be forced to cut funding to other public facilities. One might argue, is costing too much money in healthcare? Simply no, in 2002 Canada was estimated to only spend 4.4 billion dollars on tobacco in healthcare costs leaving the rest of the tobacco revenue to fund progressive public facilities such as schools, library’s, and anti-smoking campaigns to keep the children safe(Economic Costs). Would we really want to cut more funding to schools and libraries? I have an Uncle who is a well upstanding, virtuous officer who fights drugs on a daily basis. You might think an officer like he would be all for banning drugs, but that would be incorrect. My Uncle says “Banning marijuana and tobacco is and would be a waste of time and money”. He has a point doesn’t he? Police resources are already being strained and diminished on the failing war on drugs, adding tobacco would only make
Cited: 1. “Tax Revenues from Tobacco Sales”, http://www.smoke-free.ca/pdf_1/totaltax.pdf, Physicians for a Smoke-Free Canada, February 2012 2. “Economic Costs”, http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/2498.asp, Alberta Health Services, February 2012 3. “Prohibition Crime Rate”, http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00492/Crime_Rate.htm, ThinkQuest, February 2012 4. “1 in 5 American Adults Still Smoke, CDC Report Shows”, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/09/in-us-decline-in-smoking-rate-remains-stalled.html, LEA WINERMAN, September 2010 5. “Majority of Americans Support Public Smoking Bans, Says Survey”, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/15/majority-in-us-supports-public-smoking-ban_n_899887.html#s244139&title=Alabama, Healthy Living Canada, September 2011