David Broughton
Mrs. West
2nd Hour ELA
4/13/11
Smoking is Unhealthy
Did you know thousands of people per year die from smoke related causes like cancer?
People should understand that smoking causes many deaths and that it is extremely dangerous.
I have been at a bowling alley in the past where smoking there has caused me to inhale
dangerous secondhand smoke. “Secondhand smoking is indeed harmful to a person’s health”
(Hart, para.1). Overall, smoking means to inhale and exhale smoke when tobacco is burned from
a cigar, cigarette, pipe and etc. which can cause different cancers and other health problems.
Smoking should be illegal because it causes you to become addicted, affects you and your health
by causing health problems, and that it affects the health of the people around you.
One reason smoking should be illegal is that it puts you in a mental state where you
become addicted to it. Smoking makes you addicted because it injects nicotine (an addictive
substance from cigarettes) into your brain. "Addiction is a huge problem today," (Rosa, para 9).
Another effect of smoking addiction is that you can’t stop smoking when you want to. My great
grandfather was a heavy smoker who smoked and worked in the mines to get minerals, he
couldn’t quit smoking and he didn’t want to lose his job and soon enough, his health became
untreatable and he died of lung cancer. Also, you can’t do some things that you like to do after
you become addicted. For example, a man came to Berkshire last year who was smoking ever
since he was a kid, but after smoking for so long, he couldn’t speak because of the throat cancer
and he had to get a stoma (a hole in a neck). Becoming addicted to smoking cigarettes can be
very dangerous to you mentally and physically.
Another reason smoking cigarettes should be illegal is because it affects your health by
causing diseases. Some diseases like cancer come from smoking and it affects you by causing the
cells in your body to grow out of control. For instance, I know a person who was diagnosed with
lung cancer which comes from the tar that comes from smoke. Soon the tar coated his lungs and
he stopped breathing… he eventually died from it. Another condition that affects people’s health
from smoking is stroke or damage to the brain when passageways are blocked by tar in the brain.
“Tobacco smoke can cause cancer, strokes, and heart disease.” (Smoking and Tobacco, para. 4).
Overall, smoking kills mainly by health problems and diseases.
My last reason of why smoking should also be illegal because it affects the health of
people around you. In addition to smoking, secondhand smoking kills you and the people around
you over time. For example, Mrs. West lived in a family of smokers who always smoked, but she
inhaled secondhand smoked for many years and her health is probably affected by that. Another
statement is that secondhand smoking kills more people around you than smokers alone. For
example, “Secondhand smoke has killed more people in the last 2 years than 9/11 in 2001”
(Smoking and Tobacco, para. 6). Lastly, secondhand smoke does cause health problems the
same as smoking alone. For instance, lung cancer is a long term affect of secondhand smoking
that can happen when in a pub or a bar. Therefore, smoking should not be legal because it can
damage and even ruin your life.
Maybe, smoking can sometimes be a good thing for 3 different reasons. Smoking
cigarettes are good for some because it reduces their depression. However, smoking does cause
other serious problems if it is used more than once. Also, some people claim smoking doesn’t
affect people around you if you are not around anyone. But, when you smoke, the smoke sits in
the air and if anyone breathes that air then it affects them too. On the other hand, smoking does
not make you addicted if you use it once. However, some smokers can face addiction the first
time they use it because of the nicotine in the cigarette. Smoking can be good if used correctly,
but can be extremely bad if used too much.
All and all, smoking is extremely bad for you because it makes you become addicted, it
can destroy your health from different problems that occur from smoking, and also that it affects
the health of the people around you. Smoking has killed too many Americans from nicotine
addiction and health related problems from smoking cigarettes. People need to realize that
smoking is very dangerous and that measures need to be made so that the health of Americans
can be improved. Some people don’t know how to quit smoking until someone tells the dangers
of smoking. Overall, smoking can harm everyone and it can damage and even destroy your life.
Works Cited
"Does the Regular Smoking of Marijuana Cause Lung Cancer or in Any Way Permanently Injure
the Lungs? - Medical Marijuana - ProCon.org." Medical Marijuana ProCon.org. Web.
12 Apr. 2011.
<http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000234>.
"Smoking, Ban in Public Places (JUNIOR): Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions."
IDEA: International Debate Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools.
Web. 12 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=526>.
"Smoking: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions." IDEA: International Debate
Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools. Web. 11 Apr. 2011.
<http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=16>.