Reasons for Smoking To Be Considered Illegal - Essay Example

7 May 2006 Should smoking be made illegal? The World Health Organization reported that about 15 billion cigarettes are consumed worldwide everyday The demographics vary from country to country but there can be no denying how tobacco consumption has so significantly changed as years passed. The projection for tobacco use is painted as anything but bleak and there is no indication that it will ever go away totally. The estimated trend, if unchecked, is even a possible rise to a staggering figure amid the globalization of products and the powerful tools made available for its marketing. This essay seeks to answer whether smoking should be considered illegal. Smoking Tobacco smoking today takes many forms. The most popular of which is cigarette smoking, the other being cigar and pipes. There are some variations like the strange hookah of the Middle East or the water pipes found in a specialty bar round a city corner. The popularity of tobacco, particularly cigarettes, led to some cultural stereotypes. For example, cigar is used commonly by men. Experts point to several factors why smoking is prevalent. Among young people for instance, smoking is cool and for some, it is a passport to adulthood. Some adults rely on smoking to calm their nerves. David Krogh wrote in his book that people use tobacco to normalize their feelings within the narrow band necessary for functioning within an industrial society, where energy levels have to be carefully rationed according to expectations. (qtd. in “Wikipedia par. 35”) Indeed, smoking has become a lucrative industry that markets were now identified and there are cigarette variations targeted toward the young, men, women, professionals, sporty types and so on. Today some of the most notable brands - Philip Morris, Marlboro, Camel and Virginia Slims - have transformed themselves into successful brand identities and some, cultural icons, too. Health Factor The major issue against tobacco smoking is the health consequences. So far this had been the most effective detrimental to tobacco use and a cause for those in favor of total smoking ban. Again, we quote the WHO on how smoking claim lives and produce grim statistics that have been documented through the years: “Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world. It is currently responsible for the death of one in ten adults worldwide (about 5 million deaths each year). If current smoking patterns continue, it will cause some 10 million deaths each year by 2020. Half the people that smoke today -that is about 650 million people- will eventually be killed by tobacco.” (WHO par. 1) Researches have specifically found that smoking is a major contributing factor towards many human health problems, especially lung cancer, emphysema, cardiovascular disease, and other disorders. It must be noted that, tobacco contains nicotine, which makes its use extremely addictive. Ideally, nicotine could be expelled from human body within 2-3 days from inhalation. But the withdrawal symptoms are highly dependent per individual and the amount of nicotine intake. The amount of nicotine and the rate of absorption caused by chain smoking can have an extreme effect as to the chemical and psychological dependence of the smoker. When inhaled into the lungs, nicotine is said to be as addictive as heroin or cocaine according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.2 One of the most alarming facts in this area is that the health problem caused by tobacco use cannot just be acquired through smoking alone. People who do not use tobacco suffer as much through what is known as passive smoking, environment smoke or second hand smoke. In unregulated places, where smoking is freely used, one would not have any choice but to inhale an unfiltered tobacco air. Non-smokers, thus, suffer as much. Campaigns There are several anti-smoking campaigns that have been in place around the world. Some of these campaign for awareness, some endorses ban, while some lobby for legislation. The most controversial and probably a most effective example was the main television advertisement of the Australian National Tobacco Campaign. The TV spot, which is called the ‘Artery’, shows fatty deposits being squeezed from the abdominal artery of a 32-year-old smoker. This advertisement has been adapted by tobacco campaigns around the world and has achieved positive results from the viewing public - from pub consumers in Ireland to the pedestrians in Prague. Most pro-smoking campaigns are undertaken by non-government organizations and researches sponsored by the tobacco industry. However they are mostly concentrated on researches disclaiming the negative health effect of smoking and that there is no causal relation between environmental smoke to tobacco-related mortality. These are made available multimedia such as the internet. Legislations At present, Bhutan is the only country, which has a total ban on tobacco smoking. Around the world, legislations are confined to partial bans on smoking, tobacco advertisements, tobacco-use warning and the regulation of its sale. In the United States legislations differ from state to state. In California, where smoking ban is said to be stricter, there are designated smoking areas where people can smoke. Other states have variations but the trend of legislative ban on smoking is largely because of the tobacco’s health effects and its cost on society while other cite reasons like fire prevention and litter reduction. Contention Interestingly, besides smokers, there are also non-smokers who are against making smoking illegal. Their main contention is that such action on the part of the government is an abuse of power, repressive to freedom and unjust persecution. Rudy Takala, a 17-year-old libertarian writing for an internet journal, sums up their sentiment: “Perhaps its a blatant example of inequality that they perceive and want to make an example out of; or maybe theyre just bored and needed a few random industries to persecute. Regardless, its another abuse of government and tax dollars that disregards the concept of freedom… If smoking is illegal on peoples "private" property, where people are permitted to leave whenever they please, whats the premise? The primary one is that people are not allowed to harm themselves to any large extent; the extent, of course, being one defined by the State. What prohibitions will logically be required after smoking has been outlawed? Prohibition of non-educational programming on television?”(Takala, par. 6) The argument being raised is that no adults smoke without their consent. People are able to choose whether to stay or leave a bar, restaurant or any establishment where cigarette smoking is permitted. Critics, however, state the case of children who are unable to decide and choose for themselves. Recently, a woman was convicted and fined in Virginia for defying a court order not to smoke around her children. The business sector is naturally one of the sectors opposing a total ban on smoking. They argue that they suffer financial losses while some establishments are forced to close down. Apparently, there are some of these who bank on the leisure time spent on a restaurant for profit. The owners complain that the smoking ban result to dine and dashes, hence the shortened period of customers’ stay. Total Ban There would be endless debates about whether smoking should be made illegal. Those who are in favor of a total smoking ban are justified by statistics – tobacco-use is harmful to people and may even kill. This is also to true, though to a lesser extent, on the environment. Whether freedom of choice is at stake, smoking can inflict harm even to the non-smoking public. Furthermore, while others may argue that cigarette or any form of tobacco smoking is not like other controlled substance like alcohol or marijuana, still we are reminded that there is an addictive effect, which could compromise individual judgments and common sense. However, in light of these, I have come to the conclusion that regulation is still the answer to the problem instead of making tobacco totally illegal. There are several reasons but mainly making this industry illegal would be both an overkill and impractical as well. First, a total ban might prove to be too much of an encroachment on civil liberties. The government cannot just take over individual’s self-sovereignty. As mentioned earlier, adults are equipped with the necessary faculties to discern and decide on their own which is good or bad for themselves and their health. The state has no right to intervene on what he does with his person. Otherwise it would be the same as censoring a violent film, video game or other things deemed harmful to the body and the mind. Limited regulation has proven to be an effective deterrent to smoking. Statistics show that the right combination of legislation and enforcement is successful such as in the case of California. Comparing the figures of 1998 and 2004, it was reported that there are drastic changes on the state’s smoking rate. Tobacco consumption has declined 64 percent since their campaign for tobacco-free state began. In fact, the state of California, has now the second lowest in the nation, next only to Utah.3 Regulation of tobacco smoking, in my opinion, has sufficiently enforced safeguards to contain or more importantly, discourage tobacco use. Let me summarize salient legislations and campaigns which underscore the effectiveness of regulating tobacco-use: 1. No smoking around children; 2. No selling of cigarettes to minors; 3. No smoking in public conveyances; 4. Community-based and school-based programs; 5. No advertisements advocating cigarette smoking in television; and 6. Adequate awareness/warning campaign. Another important aspect that advocate of total smoking ban sometimes overlook is that we can never put a stop on smoking. If there would be an attempt, people will always find away to get around that specific law. To make matters worse, making smoking illegal would eventually breed cartel, smuggling and finally, crime. It will follow the path taken by marijuana, and illegal drugs. Side by side these substances; smoking – cigarette, cigar, tobacco – is nowhere near special, pale in comparison. Unfortunately, what the people will perceive is just an excuse for the government to be more despotic. It is in my opinion that our current response is enough. We have models to look up to and compare notes with –all telling us that this kind of set-up, the limited regulation could work. In this system we reach a compromise. Freedom is given to people to pursue what they want to do at the same time we are also protecting the welfare of others against the harm of tobacco-use. I would like to highlight some of what this country is planning in lieu with its current stance on smoking. By 2010 the current statistics on tobacco-use among adults will be reduced to 12%; the number of tobacco-use among teenagers from last months figure will be reduced to 21%; the children’s environment – home, school – will be 100% smoke free; and, laws would have been established to discourage and regulate the tobacco industry as well as abolish those which would preempt stronger tobacco control on all states. 4 Work Cited “Artery,” Brown Melhuish Fishlock. The National Tobacco Campaign (Australia) 1992 “California’s Tobacco Education Program: Saving Lives and Making our State a Better Place for All.” Tobacco Free California. 2006. 7 May 2006 < http://www.tobaccofreeca.com/ca_success.html> "Cigarette Consumption," World Health Organization. 2006. 06 May 2006 < http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/atlas8.pdf> “Tobacco Smoking,” Wikipedia, 07 May 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_smoking "Healthy People 2010 Objectives - Tobacco Priority Area." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Atlanta GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, August 1999 Takala, Rudy. "Anti-smoking Nazis" Renew America. 2004. 7 May 2006 "Why is Tobacco a Public Health Priority," World Health Organization-Tobacco Free Initiative, 7 May 2006 Read More