Smoking cigarettes should be made illegal.

Am I seriously the only one who wonders why the deadliest artefact in human history is legal? Over 6 million deaths a year are caused by this product and the numbers are only increasing. But even if present rates of consumption drop down to zero by the year 2100, we"ll still have around 300 million tobacco related deaths in this century. 5.5 trillion cigarettes are produced per year and this leads to smoking being the major cause of preventable, premature deaths. And did you know that deaths caused by: HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries and firearms, all together are still less than the amount of tobacco related deaths per year. As most of us probably know, lung cancer is the primary disease caused by cigarettes, yet what you may not know is that almost every single organ in the body is harmed by smoking. Lung cancer, kidney cancer, larynx cancer, breast cancer, periodontist gum disease and chronic obstructive oesophagus disease, are all only a few out of multiple different diseases you can get from this deadly product. After hearing these statistics can you still justify for smokers why cigarettes should stay legal? 9 out of 10 people who get lung cancer are getting it from smoking cigarettes. Lung cancer develops quite slowly over varying periods of time, even up to a few years. As the cancer forms, it causes new blood vessels to form. These vessels feed the cancer cells, which allow a tumour to grow. The cancer can then spread to other parts of the body and far too often, all of that has happened before people even begin to notice symptoms. Common symptoms include persistent coughing, weight loss, chest pains and coughing up blood. Many smokers say that they should be allowed to smoke because they use it as "a way of relaxation" and they argue "what"s wrong with enjoying life anymore?" To be honest, I believe that majority of smokers don"t even enjoy it. Nicotine acts by flooding the brain"s reward circuits with dopamine (a chemical messenger) and it acts on the chemistry of the brain and the central nervous system. In simple terms, this makes the smokers want more and more, therefore, they become addicted. At least 70% of smokers have said they do want to quit smoking because they know that it is bad for them. So sure, people still may argue that it its people"s own choice if they want to smoke, but you have to keep in mind that they are affecting everybody else too. Over 750,000 hospital beds per year are attributable to tobacco-related diseases. This results in financial losses from diminished labour productivity and in many parts of the world, makes the poor even poorer. As well as this, second-hand or "passive" smoking is another issue for us non-smokers in the community" 38,000 people die from passive smoking per year, this is absolutely unacceptable! Innocent lives are being taken from us every day, thanks to smokers. As said by Arthur Caplan, bioethicist at New York University School of Medicine's Division of Medical Ethics "Once you have a substance out there like tobacco, in wide use, it's hard to turn around and make it illegal." This may be so, but it is still possible. Surely the greedy, government will come to their senses soon enough. But, the trouble for smokers trying to quit though, can be quite bad. They will start to experience withdrawal symptoms and possibly go through depression, insomnia or possibly just become more irritable. Surely it is all worth it though because well over 7 billion Australian dollars are going up in smoke each year. Imagine the lives these smokers would have if they had an extra $4-6000 dollars a year?