Thousands of people are diagnosed with cancer each year from smoking or other illnesses related to smoking. Tobacco is constantly used all over the world. It contains a highly addictive drug called nicotine. For some smokers, it can be impossible to quit this bad habit. Tobacco products contain many harmful substances. Putting a smoking ban in public places will help to keep the influence of tobacco out of these places. People who are seen smoking in public places are seen as bad examples. Americans are wasting millions of dollars on tobacco each year. There are many dangerous effects of smoking. Smoking should be banned in all public places because of the effects on the environment, the health consequences, and a right to a healthy workplace.
Although there are many consequences of smoking the most common is cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. If smoking were to be banned in public places it would cut down on health issues. This would also promote a healthier lifestyle. The ban would keep people from publicly smoking, therefore, causing the smokers to smoke less frequently. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The death toll for the lung and heart diseases will continue to increase if the nations current situation is not handled carefully. It has been proven that second-hand smoke kills. “Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is nearly one in five deaths” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Keeping people from gaining easy access to smoking in public would help to decrease diseases as well as second-hand smoke. Tobacco not only affects people, but it affects the environment as well.
Keeping individuals permitted from public smoking would make the environment much cleaner as well as more secure. People have a tendency to throw cigarettes butts on the ground. This makes the world a nasty, harmful place. The production of tobacco causes environmental deterioration all over the world. In his article, “Study Reveals High Environmental Cost of Tobacco” , Jacopo Prisco states, “Tobacco also takes away a lot of nutrients from the soil and requires massive amounts of fertilizer, a process that leads to degradation of the land and desertification, with negative consequences for biodiversity and wildlife” (Prisco). Tobacco uses many of our natural resources. It releases harmful chemicals into the ground and waterways. By releasing these chemicals into the waterways our drinking water is contaminated, as well as marine life. One of the largest contributors of litter is caused by tobacco. Cigarette butts are made up of cellulose acetate. They take a little over a year and a half to completely decompose. If there were to be a smoking ban enforced, the environment would be a much cleaner and healthier place. As citizens, we have a right not only to clean air but a safe environment as well.
Everyone has the right to a healthy work environment. It is the responsibility of the employer and the government to provide that. A ban on public smoking would help to provide employees this by ensuring that the employees and the public are not exposed to the toxic and harmful effects of cigarette smoke in the workplace. In their article, “Legal Risks to Employers Who Allow Smoking in the Workplace”, Leslie Zellers, Meliah A. Thomas, and Marice Ashe state, “In addition, workplaces that have instituted smoking bans have seen a reduction in smoking prevalence, which also could lead to a reduction in premiums” (Zellers, Thomas, and Ashe). Smoking is already banned in most places, but it needs to be banned in every work environment. Individuals need to focus on work in the workplace instead of worrying about their health. If smoking bans were put up in all public places, then it would lead to a decrease of smoking. Instead of employees taking smoke breaks they could spend more time working. Most customers, as well as employees, prefer a smoke free environment. Smoking in the workplace exposes everyone to secondhand smoke.
People who are against banning public smoking will argue that establishing these bans infringes on their rights as a human. Also, they can spend their hard-earned money however they please. Although these are both true what about a non-smokers rights as humans? If fireworks are illegal in many states because of the pose of too much danger, then why should smoking not be? Smoking has been proven to kill, and it pollutes our environment. Everyone has the same rights as a human being and that is the right to a safe clean environment. According to the article “Human Rights and Ethical Considerations for a tobacco-free generation”, Yvette Van Der Eijk and Gerard Porter state, “Human rights were established to protect fundamental values such as the ability to live, have a family and be free from cruel treatment” (Eijk and Porter). Our rights as humans were not established to let us smoke and deteriorate our lives; they were established to let us live happy, long lives. Smoking is dangerous, and a public ban would help to keep the interest of the public health in mind.
Smoking is harmful to society as well as the environment. Setting up a ban would safeguard the life of the smoker as well as the people of the public. Thousands of people are being diagnosed with cancer or other diseases. Tobacco is used all over the world. It contains a powerful, addictive, harmful substance known as nicotine. It can seem impossible to quit this bad habit. Americans are wasting millions of dollars on cigarettes and other types of tobacco yearly. The effects of tobacco are all harmful. Smoking should be banned in all public places because of the effects on the environment, the health consequences, and a right to a healthy work environment.
Works Cited:
- Prisco, Jacopo. “Study Reveals Environmental Cost of Tobacco.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 May 2017, www.cnn.com/2017/05/31/health/tobacco-environment-who-report/index.html.
- “Smoking & Tobacco Use.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 May 2017, www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm.
- Yvette Van der Eijk, Yvette and Gerard Porter. “Human rights and ethical considerations for a tobacco-free generation” Tobacco control vol. 24,3 (2013): 238-42. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4431333/
- Zellers, Leslie, Meliah A. Thomas, and Marice Ashe. “Legal risks to employers who allow smoking in the workplace” American journal of public health vol. 97,8 (2007): 1376-82. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1931463/