Sustainable Business Development - The Production of Cigarettes - Essay Example

Sustainable Business Development Level: Essay Sustainable Business Development Global development relieson the continuous production of products and services. Due to this, there has been an increase in the emergence of new companies or firms that produce goods that are required for human consumption. However, there have been both negative and positive effects that have emerged due to the increase in industrialization. This paper seeks to choose on a certain range of products that have had adverse health and environmental effects. In addition, the paper will highlight and discuss on the production of cigarettes In terms of numbers, regions and the most affected age brackets. There are slightly over 600 cigarette factories in the world, which together produce trillions of cigarettes annually. Each of these factories is responsible for massive, avoidable costs to the society and millions of premature deaths. Apparently, cigarette production and smoking is a major single cause of cancer mortality in the world (National Institute for Drug Abuse 2012). The National Institute for Drug Abuse (2012) goes ahead to indicate that cigarette production could be rated as second after the production of medicinal pills or tablets in numbers. According to the American Cancer Society (2014, p. 19), the average production of cigarettes depending on the number of already recognized and registered factories stood at 96 billion cigarettes in the year 2010. The American Cancer Society (2014, p. 21) further rates the number of cigarette produced by each major producing countries. During the year 2010, about 41% of all cigarettes produced in the world were produced in China, followed by Russia’s 7%, the United States had a score of 6%, while Germany had 4% and India at 3% (American Cancer Society 2014, p. 21). Reports by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that close to 42 million adults in the United States were cigarette smokers by the year 2012 (2012, p. 12). However, that could be used as the most recent reliable records by the CDC. This translates to 18% of the adult population in the country, out of which 21% of them are men and 16% of them are women. Moreover, the CDC (2012, p. 13) went ahead to indicate the increasing number of young age group smokers than elders in the United States. The increase in the number of young smokers could be attributed to economic and social aspects. On an economic aspect, many youths are jobless and therefore find themselves engaging in unproductive activities such as drug abuse and crime. Social aspects could be attributed to poor parenting and peer pressure and influence. Recent surveys by the CDC (2012) show that 4% of middle school students were cigarette smokers by the year 2012. Out of those numbers, nearly 3% of them smoked large cigars, while the rest smoked small and filtered cigarettes. In conclusion, there are expectations that these statistics are likely to have adverse education, economic, social and environmental effects. The second essay will target to discuss the types of cigarettes and the various effects to health and the environment, by stating the most recent global statistics. The essay will also discuss the various interventions that could be taken to curb the effects of cigarette production and use. Essay 2 Sustainable Business Development Cigarettes are among the most widely and openly abused drugs in the world. Previous researches have associated cigarettes to more than 4,000 destructive chemicals (Gades, Nehra and Jacobson 2005), yet very little has been done to educate people on the many negative effects of their production and consumption. Cigarettes are also the most common products of tobacco. This essay is a continuation of Essay 1 and seeks to discuss more on the effects of the production and use of cigarettes.This essay also seeks to discuss the types of cigarettes and the various effects, by stating the most recent global statistics. In addition, the essay will discuss the various interventions that could be taken to curb the effects of cigarette production and use. Cigarettes can be classified into two broad categories. These are the tangible cigars or filter cigarettes, and e-cigarettes. It is predicted by many that the public health effects of both types of cigarettes will be adverse if not curbed (McCombs and Valenzuera 2007, p. 43). The essay will also recommend on various adaptable approaches on how an addicted smoker can use to stop or minimize smoking. The essay will also come up alternative waysthat could be used by governments to regulate and reduce the use of tobacco products. This essay will discuss these aims in terms of topics or segments. Electronic Cigarettes (e-cigarettes) Electronic cigarettes or commonly known as e-cigarettes are specifically designed to have a cigarette appearance. They have been available to their users in the United States since 2006. The system is able to deliver a mist of liquid when the smoker puffs on it. The liquid comes with various flavourings, and nicotine, that appears like smoke. The nicotine is absorbed into the lungs when the smoker inhales it. Previously, e-cigarettes have been used as a method of preventing the use of actual tobacco. The manufacturers of e-cigarettes recommend that they are safer that actual tobacco cigarettes. This could be attributed to the fact that inhaling a substance cannot be compared to swallowing it. However, e-cigarettes are not usually labeled to show their ingredients. Therefore, the users cannot apparently tell the constituents of such cigarettes. There are also uncertainties on the amount of major substances like nicotine and other substances that an e-cigarette gets from a single cartridge. According to a study done by the United States Food and Drug Administration (2014), half of the e-cigarettes that were taken for the study turned out positive while testing for the presence of cancer-causing substances. There are other substances and impurities that are also found in e-cigarettes and that are harmful to human health and to the environment. Examples of such impurities are diethylene glycol, which is a toxic ingredient usually found in antifreezes.Public health professionals also warn that the level of the cancer-causing contents is similar to those present in nicotine replacement therapy; that is extracted from tobacco. Those advocating for the use of e-cigarettes must satisfy any clinical trials that prove effectiveness and safe use of the devices to both the users and the environment. Cigars and Filter or menthol Cigarettes These are the most abused and commonly used types of cigarettes in the world. It is a common phenomenon to see smokers using cigarettes in the open space, in buildings, in public transport facilities and in public gatherings. However, many countries have formulated legislations and designated smoking zones, in places where smokers cannot completely control their thirst. Unlegislated smoking of cigars and filter cigarettes ends up endangering both the active and passive smokers. Passive smokers are also referred to as secondhand smokers in later segments of this essay. The environment is also greatly affected. This is done by the irresponsible throwing of filters, the smoke and empty cigarette packets. There are no types of cigarettes that would be considered safer to use. Not even menthol cigarettes that reduce the amount of smoke a smoker inhales in. All types of cigarettes have tobacco ingredients, which have more than 4,000 chemicals, and all tobacco is addictive. We do know that electronic cigarettes are designed to deliver nicotine, and nicotine is addictive (Gades, Nehra and Jacobson 2005, p. 32). Rapid Addiction from Early Smoking As previously stated in segments of this essay, tobacco is an addictive substance. There is an inaccurate belief in many youths and young teenagers that experimenting with smoking, or even casually using cigarettes may not lead to any serious dependency. However, the latest research by the National Institute for Drug Abuse, Research Reports Series (2014) indicate that earnest symptoms of addiction within youths can appear among within the first weeks, or only a few days after occasional smoking begins. The symptoms include feeling anxious or irritable, having strong urges to smoke, or having unsuccessfully tried to quit smoking. Reports by the American Cancer Society (2014, p.20) indicate that anaverage smoker usually tries their first cigarette by the time they attain an age of 12, The report goes ahead to indicate that such a person usually develops to a regular smoker by the time they attain the age of 14.These statistics end up causing negative effects to a country’s economy. This is because a sizeable number of dependable citizens end up being unproductive. Many employers turn to staff outsourcing, and therefore bringing long term effects and a culture of dependency. General Consequences of Smoking to Human Health Cigarette smoking causes most ischemic heart disease, stroke, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases. These diseases are the leading causes of death and physical disability among adults in the United States (National Center for Health Statistics 2007). In addition, smoking-related diseases are considered to be an economic burden. This is because these effects do not only cost the federal and state governments on health care, but also productivity losses. This is in relation to an increase in physical disability cases or premature deaths. Human health or community health workers are also affected, especially where they have to take care of heavy smokers. They have to endure the smoke. According to Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz (2008, p. 179), the year 2004 saw the United States record one of the most astonishing statistics. During that year, approximately 35,000 of all deaths recorded in the State of California among adults aged 35 and above, were associated to smoking. These records did not include deaths that could be attributed to secondhand smoking or cigarette burns. Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz(2008) went ahead to make a comparison of the statistics to other causes of death in California for the same time period and the aforementioned age group. The following conclusions can be made from the statistics; a Eight times the number of recorded deaths from all other infectious diseases combined. Infectious diseases include HIV and cancers. b Four times the number of recorded deaths from allnutritional, endocrine and metabolic diseases combined. These deaths include diabetes-related deaths. c Seven times the number of recorded deaths from unintendedinjuries or accidents (Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz 2008, p. 180). d The three most common causes of smoking-associated deaths were lung cancer, followed by chronic obstructive lung disease and lastly ischemic heart-related diseases like stroke between the years 2000 and 2004. e Cigarette smoking is considered as a cause of various types of cancers. One of the leading effects is lung or bronchus cancer. Other effects are cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, stomach, kidney, pancreas, bladder, cervix and acute myeloid leukemia. f Cigarette smoking also causes chronic obstructive lung diseases. Examples of such lung diseases are emphysema, asthma and bronchitis. Smoking also increases the chances of contacting both upper and lower respiratory infections. g Smoking causes ischemic heart disease and stroke. These two are the leading causes of heart-related deathsand physical limitation in adult Californian. h The smoking-related death rate was three times higher in men than it was in women in California between the years 2000 and 2004 (Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz 2008, p.180). Specifically Vulnerable Populations There are specific age brackets and classes of people that are highly vulnerable to cigarette smoking. However, both active and passive smoker are at a high risk of the various aforementioned health risks that are caused by smoking. The following classes of people are more vulnerable to cigarette smoking effects; Asthmatics: -Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) or mainstream exacerbates asthma symptoms in known asthmatics. In addition, some studies have shown a link between ETS in childhood and a higher prevalence of asthma in adulthood. Infants and Children: Exposing infants and children to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) increases the risks to contacting heart diseases and death. In addition, expectant mothers who engage in smoking activities are known to have low birth-weight babies (Adhikari, et al. 2007, p. 39). In addition, breastfeeding mothers who engage in smoking activities pose their infants to the risk of Sudden Infant Death syndrome (SIDS). Children that are exposed to ETS have a higher risk of infections like middle ear and respiratory infections. Sickle Cell Patients:Acute Chest Syndrome (ACS) is a common phenomenon on patients with sickle cell anemia and that smoke. The Acute Chest syndrome condition is associated with severe chest pains. The negative effects of smoking on health can be considered to be wholly or partially reversible. However, this could only be achieved upon quitting smoking. A research by Eke and Iscan (2002, p. 96) show that many smokers are not ready to quit smoking. This is attributed to the addictive aspect of tobacco. There is evidence that quitting smoking could provide enormous health benefits to both active and passive smokers and the economy (Eke and Iscan 2002, p. 96). However, certain damages that are caused by smoking are simply irreversible. General Consequences of Smoking to the Economy Various national governments suffer huge financial losses related to awareness, treatment and other medical services related to cigarette smoking.Time has also been taken to formulate legislation to control irresponsible smoking. However, the best or most recommendable method of minizing effects of smoking is to completely avoid cigarette smoking or the use of any other form of tobacco products. It is very important to avoid all forms of tobacco smoke, not only for personal benefits, but also for the good of others. Other economies have spent a lot of money annually on cleanup of the cigarette waste(United States Department of Health and Human Services. (2006). In addition, the hundreds of companies that manufacture cigarettes use billions of money on conducting advertisements and marketing promotions. The American Cancer Society (2014) postulates that in the United States alone, the Tobacco industry spent more than 8.4 billion dollars on cigarette advertising and marketing alone in the year 2011. Advertising and marketing promotions include other items such as magazine or periodical ads, free samples, price discounts to attract smokers and ads that are usually posted on retail outlets. Money is also spent on distribution of cigarettes from the manufacturing spots or firms to the reliable markets. There are also other indirect effects that are caused by the production and use of cigarettes. These effects may also be termed as long term effects. Various other companies that are involved in the manufacture of medicine, food, beverages and the provision of other consumer services have been laid off due to smoking. This is because such employees end up being unproductive once they are addicted to smoking or have contacted heart related diseases that are caused by smoking. According to Allen, F. and Galle (2008), many companies and organization s sent away most of their employees on various social impediments like communication slowness, drug use, cigarette smoking among others during the ban on short selling in Europe. The tobacco industry can be rated as one of the most profitable industries in the United States and other developed economiesevery year (Otsuka 2001).Statistics provided by the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC 2004, p. 37)go ahead to indicate that in the year 2004 alone, it is estimated that cigarette smoking led to enormous health costs and unplanned productivity losses that totaled an average of 10.48 dollars on every pack that was sold and used within the United States. The following statistics are provided by the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); a 151 billion dollars for incurred lost productivity due to early or premature deaths. b 132.5 to 176 billion dollars for direct medical care of smoking or addicted adults. c 5.6 billion dollars lost on productivity due to secondhand smoking. Reports by the National Institute for Drug Abuse (2014) indicate that the total adult health-related cost of smoking in California State in the United States in the year 2004 was estimated to be 18.1 billion dollars. This amount is half of all total expenditures that had been set aside for health and other human services during the 2008-2009 California fiscal budgets. Therefore, this translates to an additional 500 dollars on health-associated expenditure on every resident in California, or approximately 3400 on every one smoker. Evidently, these are excessive unwanted budgets on the federal government. Such unexpected funds are better off when they are geared towards other human services like education and amenity services. In addition, the direct health care expenditures that were attributed to smoking in California were estimated to be 9.6 billion dollars in 2004 (Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz 2008, p. 22). Similarly, there were productivity losses that resulted from smoking-associated premature deaths or sicknesses in California State alone. These were estimated to be 8.5 billion dollars, without including secondhand smokers or deaths that resulted from cigarette burns. During the same year; 2004, Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz (2008) continue to assert that approximately 1.2 billion packets of cigarettes were sold out in the same state. Therefore, on an approximation basis, if each smoker was to pay for these smoking–associated health care costs, one such packet of cigarette could cost an extra 9.70 dollars. Tourism has also been greatly affected by the continuous production and use of cigarettes. Smoking poses a direct threat and destruction to both natural and planted forests, residential homes, parks, animal conservancies and sanctuaries. This is especially experienced when tourists fail to visit certain regions of the world, or specific attraction sites in certain countries due to unlegislated cigarette smoking. Moreover, several parts of the world like Africa and Australia have experienced an increase in bush-fire or wild-fire incidences. Some of these fires come as a result of a cigarette filter that might have been dropped by a smoker. The fires end up burning down the natural vegetation and killing many animals. There have also been cases where residential homes catch fire form a discarded cigarette filter or butt. Nonetheless, such cases may be rare, but their effects are adverse on tourism activities. Therefore, countries that rely on tourism as a form of government income end up incurring losses, and hence causing negative impact on their economies. In addition to these expenditures, a number of electronic products like electronic cigarettes, pipes and cigars have continuously been produced in the marketplace. There is evidence from economic researches that most economies could instead use these monies on other productive ventures (Allen and Galle 2008, p. 56). Those that have been drowned into smoking may not be very productive citizens. An argument by Gibb and Dyer (2013, p. 49) says that for a team to function, there is need to have a collective thought and a drive towards achieving the objectives of the team. However, the research (Gibb and Dyer 2013) goes ahead to explain the various impediments that affect teamwork productivity. These impediments could be internal or self-intended or external. The research classifies smoking as both an external and internal impediment. This is because a member of a team that is also a smoker does not only injure his or herself while smoking within the group, but causes injuries to all members within the group. Ultimately, every member in the group may end up being affected, and hence derailed realization of group success (Gibb and Dyer 2013, p. 56). General Consequences of Smoking to the Environment Reports by Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz (2008) indicate that there has been a global rapid increase in the number of cigarette production. New companies emerge every new day in a new location in the world. Some of the companies are either involved in direct production of cigarettes, distribution, marketing and advertisements, while others are involved in awareness activities. However, National Center for Health Statistics (2007) indicates a general reduction of the use of tobacco products since the 1950s. The factories that produce cigarettes emit harmful and untreated gasses into the air. However, this is normal phenomenon with most developing and some of the developed economies. These gasses end up affecting the ozone layer, and hence the unpredictable climatic changes that are currently facing the world. Various governments and international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) have condemned and warned against the excessive release of such gasses due to the effects they have on human health and the environment (United States Department of Health and Human Services (2006). Other areas of the environment that have been greatly affected are rivers. Most of the factories that engage in tobacco related products release their wastes into the rivers. These wastes pollute the waters and eventually affecting the eco-system. Plants and animals that depend on water from such rivers therefore end up using water that is contaminated. This problem is a major setback in developing countries and third world countries. An environmentalist considers a cigarette butt as a toxic waste. In the year, 2005 alone, close to 153 million pounds of cigarette butts saw their way into the United States of America environment (National Center for Health Statistics (2007). The same research goes ahead to explain that cigarette butts are the most common toxic wastes that are found during cleanup activities, not only in the United States, but also in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, cigarette butts or filters do not decompose fast. They take long to decompose, and, therefore, have adequate time to cause harm. The toxic chemicals that are found in cigarette butts pose a great threat to ecosystems. In addition to this, the various harmful substances that leach out are considered to be highly toxic and, therefore, end up destroying micro-organisms that are found in water. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2014), it is estimated that there are 1.69 billion pounds of cigarette butts that end up as wastes every year. The study goes ahead to posit that cigarette wastes that are released into the environment make up about 34% of the total waste that is captured in the State of California. Mitigations and Control Methods to Negative Effects of Cigarette Production and Smoking There is the need to enact fast mitigations to curb or control the production and use of cigarettes. There are certain countries that have imposed heavy penalties on citizens that will be found using cigarettes in areas not designated for smokers (Kristina and Deborah 2010, p. 79). However, it is notable that most smokers have agreed to use the designated smoking zones, thereby minimizing effects to secondhand or passive smokers. The introduction of the ‘smokefree’ law in the United States has also yielded positive results in controlling the use of tobacco products (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2004). In addition, governments should take stern measures in factories that are found producing cigarettes without having legal production and trading licenses. This is because certain tobacco products producers produce and sell their products in black markets (illegal trade), and hence bringing unfair and an unregulated competition with other producers that are already licensed to conduct their businesses (United States Department of Health and Human Services 2006). Therefore, legislation should be applied similarly across all stakeholders in the tobacco industry. This mitigation has also been asserted by Hyland (2002). The other mitigation could be to embark on public awareness. This should not just be left to the government or other societal organizations, but every individual. Public awareness can be done in the form of educative publications or periodicals, carrying out advertisements on the Internet and on the electronic media (Kristina and Deborah 2010, p. 86). Recent researches have shown that the Internet is one of the most widely used interactive platforms in the world. The use of the Internet could prove to be very successful since most of the users are aged between 12 to 45 tears (McCombs and Valenzuera 2007, p. 26). There is also need to introduce topics within the education syllabuses on the dangers of smoking. Previous researches have indicated that by teaching the dangers of smoking in schools, most young smokers are likely to stop the habit (Lightwood, Dinno and Glantz 2008). However, this should not only be left to the teachers or stakeholders in the education systems. It should be a collective duty of all teachers, all parents and the students. Such mitigations have been taken by other countries in controlling the spread of HIV-AIDS. Some countries, specifically in third world countries have incorporated teaching and awareness of the enigmatic diseases. There have been positive results of the mitigation. On what would be seen as an unsure mitigation method, some doctors have advised on using electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and menthol cigarettes. Medical practitioners advices that the use of menthol cigarettes allow the smoker to inhale in less smoke, and hence reducing the risks of contacting heart diseases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2004). However, as previously stated in this essay, there has not been a satisfactory research to explain that e-cigarettes are tobacco free and that they are safer to use. An only advantage of e-cigarettes is that they do not have a direct effect on secondhand or passive smokers. According to Hyland, Cummings and Nauenberg (2000, p. 17), taxation is one of the most reliable methods of controlling trade. This is because capable competitors in the marketing industries are in a better position to comply with all the taxation regulations that may be put forth by the governments. If this mitigation is used, many tobacco product unlicensed producers are likely to stop their business and activities, and hence control the use of cigarettes. Moreover, the federal and national governments are likely to earn rightfully on stakeholders that will comply. There is also need to involve environmental organizations in curbing the effects of cigarette production and use. There ought to be an introduction of cleanup fee. The fee should be paid by the manufactures of the cigarettes. Once such a mitigation is adopted, the manufacturers of the cigarettes will be forced to educate their customers on responsible smoking. Most of these manufactures yield a lot of returns on the sales they make. Therefore, imposing a cleanup fee will also create employment opportunities to the many youths that will be employed to carry out the cleanup activities. However, such a levy can only be enacted by the federal and national government. The data that is widely available from previously conducted researches mainly touches on California State. However, most recent statistics by the American Cancer Society (2014) indicate that the effects of cigarette production and smoking spread evenly across all states in the United States. These statistics provide various mitigation measures that have been taken by the different states in curbing the menace caused by cigarettes. Besides all the aforementioned mitigation methods, the most reliable method to curb the negative effects of smoking is to avoid smoking totally or being close to active smokers. Tobacco is addictive and harmful to human health, the economy, animal life and the environment. This essay has also provided adequate information, from previously conducted researches on the effects of the production and consumption of cigarettes. Other products of tobacco like sweets and chewing gums are also addictive and harmful. 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