Cigarettes Should be Illegal

1. Smoking hurts our economy Subpoint A: productivity Smoking leads to a less productive work-force in the United States because smokers are more likely to develop a host of illnesses, so they are more likely than non-smokers to miss a large number of work days. According to Dr. Mark Clayson, smokers are more likely to develop ulcers, asthma, high blood pressure, chronic pulmonary disease, cancer, and heart disease. [1] In fact, according to the Vancouver Sun, "Cigarette smoke causes 90 percent of all cases of lung cancer, which kills 1.2 million people a year globally." [2] The aforementioned illnesses mean smokers miss a great deal of work days. A study of 2,500 postal workers published in the American Journal of Public Health found that the absentee rate for smokers was 33% higher than for non-smokers. [3] The Center for Disease Control estimates the lost productivity attributed to smokers at $92 billion a year. [4] Subpoint B: health care costs Because smokers are more likely to develop a host of medical-related issues earlier in life than expected, they are much more expensive to insure, and their medical costs are astronomically higher. USA Today reports that smokers cost their employers 25% more money in terms of medical costs. [5] The Center for Disease Control estimates the direct health care costs of smoking at $75.5 billion. [6] The health care costs of smoking are often charged to non-smokers, in what is called in economics a negative externality. When smokers make health care costs more expensive for the insurance companies, the companies are forced to charge higher premiums to everyone, including non-smokers. The costs of smoking are not just bourn by the smokers themselves. Allied Quotes, a health insurance quote company, adds together the costs of lost productivity and higher medical costs to get a figure of $157 billion for the total annual cost of smoking to our society. [7] Although the typical pack of cigarettes only costs $5 for the smoker to purchase, Allied Quotes states that, "Overall, for every pack of cigarettes smoked, that smoker costs the nation $7.18 in medical care and lost productivity." The hidden costs of smoking far outweigh the actual costs. 2. Lives The Center for Disease control estimates that smoking causes 440,000 premature deaths each year, which amounts to 50 per hour. [8] These statistics only apply to people who smoke cigarettes, they do not capture the negative health impacts imposed by secondhand smoke. Although we have known for quite awhile that secondhand smoke is harmful, many people are still held captive to secondhand smoke when they go to work, eat at a restaurant, or as they wait for a bus. According to the American Nonsmoker's Rights Foundation, only 47.5% of people in the United States reside in a state where smoking is banned in all workplaces, restaurants, and bars. [9] Even in those states where smoking is functionally banned indoors, many people cannot avoid exposure when they use public transportation, wait in line outside a store, or simply walk down the street stuck behind a dreaded smoker. This is extremely problematic for people with young children. According to Lynne Eldridge, M.D., a recent study found that people exposed to secondhand smoke as children were twice as likely to develop lung cancer as adults than those who were not exposed as children. [10] 3. Marketing (to kids) In addition, the trend in smoking is only getting worse as the $5.5 billion annual marketing budget of the cigarette companies persuades an increasing number of Americans to start smoking. A great deal of marketing is aimed at children because, according to a Surgeon General's Report, 90% of regular smokers started at or before the age of 18. [11] Tobacco Free Kids reports that each day, 3,000 children become regular smokers. [12] As evidence that marketing is disproportionately effective among the youth population, Tobacco Free Kids explains, "Eighty-six percent of kids who smoke (but only about a third of adults) prefer Marlboro, Camel and Newport, the three most heavily advertised brands. Marlboro, the most heavily advertised brand, controls almost 60 percent of the youth market but only about 25 percent of the adult market." In addition, a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that kids are influenced more by cigarette advertising than by peer pressure. [13] This is scary considering a host of other studies in the general field of psychology showing the enormous influence that peer pressure has on children. Lastly, two University of Arizona marketing professors conducted a study that found that "each time a child saw an advertisement that appeared to promote a particular cigarette brand, the likelihood of being susceptible to smoking grew by 182 percent." [14] Tobacco company executives have been quoted extensively as deliberately targeting children aged 14-17 during the 1970s, although since being caught, they have been careful not to explicitly state such intentions since that time. However, the de facto intent of cigarette advertising is to target people who are as yet undecided as to whether they will become smokers, a group of people comprised mostly of children, since most adults have already made up their minds as to whether or not to smoke cigarettes. The Economist recently argued that we should legalize heroin so that the drug proceeds could be re-invested in rehabilitating users. This would make sense, until the big heroin companies started advertising to kids how cool and normal it is to shoot up on heroin. Then the potential positive effects of legalization would easily be negated by the negative effects of advertising aimed at trying to make a negative product more appealing to young people. The ultimate impact is that the "choice" to smoke is not really a choice if we are inundated by positive smoking advertising by the time we turn 18. If the vast majority of people always made the right choices, we would have nothing to fear from legalizing harder drugs. In summary, banning smoking would add $157 billion to our economy from increased productivity and lower medical costs. In addition, a smoking ban would save 440,000 lives annually. Lastly, a smoking ban would reverse the bad trend of increased smoking among young people due to cigarette advertising. A smoking ban is fair considering how many of the costs of smoking are forced upon non-smokers by smokers, such as lost productivity, higher health care premiums, and forced exposure to secondhand smoke. If you're a smoker, next time you buy a $5 pack, please pay the non-smoker next to you the $7.18 that you owe him or her due to all the hidden costs. [1] http://ezinearticles.com... [2] http://www.vancouversun.com... [3] http://www.alliedquotes.com... [4] http://www.usatoday.com... [5] Ibid [6] Ibid [7] http://www.alliedquotes.com... [8] http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com... [9] http://www.no-smoke.org... [10] http://lungcancer.about.com... [11] http://www.tobaccofreekids.org... [12] Ibid [13] Ibid [14] http://uanews.org...