Compare and Contrast Smoking in USA and Smoking in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example

The global aspect of smoking occurrence is well documented. For instance, Audrain, Janet, and Jon (1743) provide a general findings on how smoking is a major problem affecting the modern society. This research provides a detailed account of the increase in the number of smokers from 19th to 21st century. With its severity in mind, many nations across the globe have implemented laws that ban smoking in public places. This research seeks to compare and contrast smoking in the USA and smoking in Saudi Arabia.

In his article, Alturki (72) affirm that smoking level in developing countries is quite alarming. While the developed countries such as Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States have enjoyed the benefits of, decreasing rate of smoking for the past four decades, developing countries such as Saudi Arabia still report rapid smoking rate. Tobacco smoking has been the main cause of death in developing countries with the number of addicts increasing rapidly. Based on a recent study conducted in 2007, Al-Haqwi All, Hani, and Asery (146) argue that, 11% of female and 34% of male secondary students were smoking in their teenagehood.

Likewise, Saudi Arabia estimates that 30% of adult men smoke while 10% of adult women smokes. This indicates a major difference between smoking habits in Saudi Arabia and other settings such as the United States where the number of female smoking is considerably higher than Saudi Arabia. Obaidullah and David (4) also noted that, the highest rate of smoking is among the young generation between the age 21 to 45 years. Additionally, tobacco smoking is more common among married couple, uneducated, and those in certain occupations such as army officers, businessmen, and manual workers just to name a few.

Since 1960, there has been a tremendous increase in the quantity of tobacco import,