ISSUES | A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH LASummer2017 | Page 21

Say No To Smoking
Have you ever sat down in a restaurant, ready for an excellent meal, but instead receive an
irksome wisp of smoke from the next table that just spoils your entire meal. Or maybe you are the
smoker. Either way, I am here to share with you why smoking should be banned in public places.
Smoking doesn't help anyone; smoking cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents,
suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined. Smoking isn’t doing the environment a
favour either. Even people around smokers are affected with the same diseases smokers get. So
what positive side is there to smoking? None.
It is scientifically proven that smoking is dangerous. There are over 600 ingredients in a
cigarette. When burnt, it creates more than 7,000 chemicals. Some chemicals found in tobacco
smoke include acetone, lead, nicotine, even tar. There was even one chemical that is also found in
mothballs! If that doesn’t make you cringe, I don't know what will. There's no way around it.
Smoking is bad for your health. Smoking endangers nearly every organ in the body. Cigarette
smoking causes 87% of lung cancer deaths. It is also responsible for many other cancers and
health problems. These include lung disease, heart and blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts.
Women who smoke have a greater chance of certain pregnancy problems, or having a baby die
from sudden infant death syndrome.
Everybody has a right to work in a comfortable, clean, healthy environment and should not
have to endure other people's smoking habits. Smoking is a very antisocial habit and, at the very
least, can cause irritation to others in ways such as cigarette butts and ash around the floor, spilt
ashtrays, smoky surroundings, and many more. Smokers not only harm themselves. People around
are also affected when they breathe in the smoke; this is called “passive-smoking”. The people
surrounding never chose to smoke passively, yet they are affected. Just because you are willing to
take the chance of lung cancer or heart attacks doesn't mean others are. Imagine if you knew
someone was diagnosed with cancer because of one cigarette you lit. Would you take that chance?
Most people are generally educated on the many dangers of smoking and the different