Cigarettes are, overall, more detrimental to the overall well-being of Americans than alcohol.

Firstly, my opponent makes the claim that: "One cigarette won't hurt you much, if at all. " Actually, it does. Every time you smoke a cigarette, you lose 11 minutes off of your life, guaranteed. [1] Second, my opponent claims that I made an "erroneous" claim by saying that every single alcoholic beverage doesn't have a NEGATIVE effect on one's health. I didn't say it didn't have an effect on one's health, I just said it didn't have a negative effect on one's health. Third, my opponent claims that HEAVY drinking is a 'major' cause of: "-Heart disease -Dementia -Cancer -Stroke" First of all, major means: "Greater in number, quantity, or extent " {2} On my opponent's claims on heart disease: According to a source my opponent provided ( . http://en.wikipedia.org...... ): ". .. One study found that men who drank moderate amounts of alcohol three or more times a week were up to 35% less likely to have a heart attack than non-drinkers, and men who increased their alcohol consumption by one drink a day over the 12 years of the study had a 22% lower risk of heart attack. .. " Really? Alcohol HELPS PREVENT heart attack? Amazing! They say that, when used in moderation, alcohol can actually PREVENT some diseases! When smoking is used in moderation, it kills you. Remember,t eh focus of this debate is to argue whether or not smoking has a MORE DETRIMENTAL effect on the health of Americans than alcohol, not whether or not alcohol has any detrimental effects on Americans health; it does. We are debating whether or not smoking has a worse effect on Americans health. And as far as heart disease goes, it does. On cancer: My opponent stated that Cancer is "Also impacted by drinking. and many other things as well . .. pass away. " That wasn't my point. My point was that Cancer was MAJORLY impacted by smoking, not that it was the only thing that caused Cancer, because it obviously is not. Again, the argument is on whether or cigarettes are more detrimental to Americans health than alcohol, not if they are the only detrimental things to Americans health. On strokes: My opponent states that "Once again, heavy drinking . .. never smoked. " That, again, isn't/wasn't my point. My point is that smoking had a role to play in causing it, not the only role. It is extremely true that people die from strokes without ever touching a cigarette. Next, my opponent states that I make another error when I say that all of these deaths were caused by smoking. I might have mis-worded my statement. It can be said that those deaths could POSSIBLY be impacted by smoking. According to (. http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com...), 440,000 annual deaths each year are smoking-associated, compared to 100,000 deaths each year caused by drinking a alcoholic beverage. {3} Then, my opponent admits that secondhand-smoke is a huge problem, but says that it isn't as immediately dangerous as getting in a car with a drunk person. Well, it all depends on what you mean by dangerous. Whenever you are around an active smoker, you are being affected by secondhand smoke (a contributor to the 440,000 deaths mentioned above). Again, with drinking, their are other things to be considered if you are talking about danger. If you're talking about smoking, there is always a danger. Last, my opponent asks "Where have you heard of parents beating their kids without it being alcohol fueled? " Well, there's the one-third of cases that were NOT alcohol related {4}. So in all actuality, there are a good number. Smoking is a definite killer. It WILL eventually either kill you or be a contributing factor to your death (actually, it always is, since it takes 11 minutes off your life every time you light one up), while, if you drink the right amount of beer, it can actually help you live longer and be un-detrimental. Unfortunately, we aren't debating which substance is better. We're debating which substance is worse. And from death's alone, that substance is smoking I await my opponent's response! 1 - . http://www.health.com... 2 - . http://www.merriam-webster.com... 3 - . http://wiki.answers.com... 4 - . http://www.marininstitute.org...