Negative Side Effects Of Smoking For Students - Research Paper Example

Negative Side Effects Of Smoking For Students Over time, smoking has emerged as a persistent issue the world over with mounting controversies over the safety issues and even the practice. Although there is a wide range of products ranging from herbs to hard drugs, tobacco remains the most preferred among smokers. As such, smoking is usually a personal use to take in tobacco or rather its smoke into the body willingly; presently, an important percentage of the world population is comprised of smokers. Per CDC statistics, tobacco use leads to almost six million deaths annually, a statistic enough to suggest that smoking is an issue that affects people’s health. While there exists other influences to the tobacco smoking habit, social smoking has found itself has the biggest of the influences. Peer pressure especially young teenagers prove to amount to the development of the smoking habit where peers reward the practice as ‘cool’. Among young adults, cigarette breaks lead to the establishment of bonds among the smokers, who may enter into relationships that fulfill the need for acceptance and joy of belonging to a group. Some people are chronic risk-takers and thrill seekers who try out new things, which later develop into habits. Complications associated with smoking tobacco have necessitated the need for in-depth analysis of the situation and monitoring of effects to the society. It is for this reason that the following paper seeks to illustrate the effects of smoking in the society and measures taken to reduce smoking. There are staggering statistical reports that indicate that smoking contribute to thousands of premature deaths every year in the United States, which have been attributed to addiction that is associated with long-term use of tobacco. Consequently, this translates to relatively high smoking prevalence among the population. It is estimated that more than 40 million adults of the US population smoke, with 21.6% of them being men and 16.5% women (CDC, 2013.). With this in mind, the future of the society lies in jeopardy with regard to health since chronic respiratory conditions are facilitated by the smoking practice. Health concerns regarding tobacco smoking lie within the effects of its smoke, which is believed to contain numerous chemicals. Majorities of the chemicals are known to have devastating effects to the human body and among is facilitating cancer. Carcinogenic agents in tobacco smoke are credited to be the trigger in most cases of throat, lung, pancreas, bladder, stomach, and cervix cancers. Long-term addiction to tobacco smoking contributes to development and progression of chronic diseases such as heart and respiratory diseases. Smoking is responsible for the greatest burden on the health of the world population, playing the role of contributing risk factor to a number of diseased conditions. Such conditions include but not limited to stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and infertility, sudden infant death syndrome, and limb amputations. Women, especially those who smoke, are at risk and experience their fair share of devastating effects. This follows the fact that not only does smoking harm them, but also their potential of becoming healthy mothers to their children. Such women have difficulty in getting pregnant as well as giving birth to a health child, seeing that the smoking practice has been linked to infertility. Moreover, smoking has been indicated to increase the probability of miscarriages, premature births, and low-birth-weight among women in the smoking habit. Sadly, while there are reports of declining prevalence of smoking in developed countries, developing, and emerging economies show marked increase in percentage of smokers (Jemal et al, 2010). Although tobacco holds an enormous economic value to farmers, smoking the same affects the economy negatively. Smokers endure the costs of facilitating his/her practice as per the consumer taste and addiction level based on which manufacturers provide different brands. As such, finances are spent on smoking depending on the scale of an individual’s habit, which when calculated amounts to a significant figure. In addition, smokers are liable for their health where they seek medical attention in the event of smoking associated diseases. Besides the pain endured during the period of sickness, the affected person has to cater for treatment an aspect that serves to strain finances. Smokers also face the risk of being blacklisted and their needs not prioritize with regard to organ transplants since their condition is viewed as self-inflicted (Kahn, 2001). At the national level, the high prevalence of smoking in the society often results in decreased productivity owing to loss of work force. This is attributed to the chronic ailments among workers who remain absent based on the extent of their condition. In turn, visits to hospitals and other health facilities become synonymous to a society that could otherwise contribute positively to nation building. Such visits contribute to loss of working hours, which translate to reduced productivity and efficiency in service delivery with evident consequences to the economy. Similarly, the national government is tasked setting aside funds to cater for emerging cases of social services, which plays a critical role in straining the thinly stretched national budget towards health care. It is an aspect that sees a burdened taxpayer dig deeper into their pockets to facilitate the extra budgetary demands. The revenue allocated to cater for the extra health services related to smoking could be used for development of other needy sectors of the economy. Further, economic implications have been indicated in the numerous cases of wild fires in recreational and conservation parks. Smokers have high tendencies of disposing cigarette butts carelessly along the road, nature trails, and camping sites, which serves to propagate bush fires. These destroy investments over large areas owing to their quick spread and can be regarded as economic sabotage besides negligence. Another concern with smoking revolves around bystanders who are often subjected to second-hand smoke, which leads to health complications. Smoking in public places exposes non-smokers to tobacco smoke as well as nicotine and other harmful components. In this regard, the tobacco smoker not only harms his health, but also that of his/her non-smoking counterpart (AAOS, 2008). The society therefore, demands responsibility from smokers having lost their respect by exposing innocent bystanders to their practices. In essence, smokers lose their position in the society to serve as role models to young generations. Smokers are also seen, as part of the problem in modern society with smoking viewed, as a vice that leads to resentment following increase in the number of health complaints among the non-smoking populations. In light of this, the need exists to formulate control measures that are directed at the tobacco industry. It is important that all stakeholders in the industry be consulted in crafting policies that ensure the all are protected in accordance to their rights. With this in mind, the government is charged with the enormous task of protecting its citizens as the best suit. Although attempts have been made, banning smoking in its entirety remains a difficult task provided tobacco farming is not addressed. Farmers should be provided with alternative sources of revenue while the government limits tobacco cultivation by allocating specific tracks of land for this purpose. This serves a regulatory measure that ensures tobacco consumption is regulated and maintained at a minimum in order to alleviate social and economic repercussions. Currently, the tobacco industry ranks among the heavily taxed to generate substantial revenues for the national budget. In addition, this serves to discourage tobacco consumption since heavy taxes imposed, are passed on to the consumers as high product prices (Nicholl 2010). Such taxes should be extended to encompass advertisements that advocate for tobacco consumption without stating the obvious health repercussions. Restrictions should also be imposed to the advertisements seeing that they advocate for smoking, which has no benefits to one’s health. Such restrictions should be directed at manufacturers who target learning institutions where a young majority may be influenced into smoking. In most cases, smoking serves a gateway to the use of other drugs and hard substances. The law banning public smoking seeks to protect children and young adults from the effects of smoking tobacco by keeping negative influences at bay (Crosswell, 2010). In spite of tobacco, products being readily available at most retail outlets; retailers are prohibited from selling such products to anyone under the legal age. Any distributor found in breach of this law should be prosecuted as per the law, which demands a revocation of the trading license, heavy fines, and/or a jail term. In line with protecting the society, the government, in its policies established that smoking in public spaces such as public transport, indoor public places, and workplaces is prohibited. This is a key stride towards reducing health effects associated with secondary smoking, which in line with the international commitment under WHO Framework on Tobacco Control (WHO, 2005). The framework seeks to discourage public smoking by providing designated areas set aside from public spaces to facilitate the needs of smokers. Smoking is also permitted for sampling purposes during the sorting of cigars and pipe tobacco especially in specialized tobacco shops. The law also seeks to establish consumer protection by establishing manufacturing guidelines on tobacco products. This regulation ensures that manufacturers, who fail to meet safety measures in their products, are not granted access into the market. For instance, nicotine levels per cigarette should be at their lowest based on agreeable quantities in order to limit the rate of addition and dependence among users. With such policies, any manufacturer flaunting such stipulations should be locked out of the market, and other legal consequences to follow. Awareness campaigns are also a key feature in efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate smoking. Such campaigns should target the most afflicted groups where their peers can present facts about smoking and the benefits of leading a healthy life. It is important to enforce discipline among children and young adults as a way to ensure they do not indulge in smoking. Healthcare professionals should collaborate with learning institutions for the purposes of health education and establish better ways of relieving anxiety, seeing it the common excuse for smoking. Guidance and counseling services also play a critical role in molding young mind since they remain vulnerable to peer pressure and other negative influences. A similar effect is realized with the adoption of religious views into the smoking debate, which serves to instill morals and restore from social corruption. However, in spite of measures that are already in place with regard to smoking, the prevalence remains high. This calls for urgent formulation and adoption of stricter policies to preserve public health and ease the economic burden suffered. Although tobacco smoking goes back to medieval ages, its effects on the human body surpass, by far, any benefit that is believed to exist. Works Cited AAOS-American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (2008).“The Effects of Tobacco Exposure on the Musculoskeletal System”. Retrieved from http://www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1153.asp CDC-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.(2013). “Adult Cigarette Smoking in the United States: Current Estimate”. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6144a2.htm Crosswell, Jonathan. (2010).Reasons Why Public Smoking Should Be Banned. LIVESTRONG. Retrieved from http://www.livestrong.com/article/240029-reasons-why-public-smoking-should-be-banned/ Jemal, A, et al. (2010) . Global Patterns of Cancer Incidence and Mortality Rates and Trends. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Vol.19:1893-1907 Kahn, J. P. (2001). Transplants and personal responsibility. CNN Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/03/05/ethics.matters/ Nicholl, T. (2010). Growing Virginia Tobacco. Retrieved from http://www.webbyboy.co.uk/writing/tobacco/Tobaccouk.pdf World Health Organization-WHO (2005).“WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control”. Retrieved from. http://www.who.int/fctc/text_download/en/index.html Read More