Should smoking be banned in public places?The number of people who smoke have increased over the years. Although they are equipped with the knowledge of how unhealthy smoking can be, but some people still choose to smoke.
Smoking is the inhalation of gases and hydrocarbon vapours generated by slowly burning in cigarettes. Cigarettes contains over 4,000 different chemicals, at least 50 are known to be carcinogens and many are poisonous. According to World Health Organization (WHO)(2018), tobacco which is one of the contains in cigarettes kills more than 7 million people each year. More than 6 million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while around 890 000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. Some people agree to smoke in public places as they assume that smoking is their habit and it can be do in anytime and anywhere, but they do not realize that smoking does not only affect the smokers negatively, it also affects all the people around.
In my own opinion, smoking should be banned in all public places as it brings disruptions to people, cause health problems and increase the risk of cognitive impairment. First of all, smoking will bring disruptions to people. Non-smokers find it very disturbing and irritating when someone is smoking in a place where they are. The smoke of the cigarettes let them have headaches, eyes discomfort, feel dizzy and some may even vomit. Not only that, their clothes, hair and bodies wil stink and be smelly. People around will feel uncomfortable, especially the patients. For example, the condition of patients with asthma might get worse or suddenly deteriorate while they reveal to the smoke-filled environment. Actually for some smokers, smoking is known as one of the ways to release stress and depression, but that is not the only way to do so, they should try other ways such as sporting and reading which can reduce tention effectively and will not harm themselves and others as well.
Long-term smokers will leave smoke odor on their bodies which caused by the nicotine and tar in the cigarettes and let other people stay far away from them. As a result, smoking not only harm smokers themselves but the people around as well.On top of that, second-hand smoke will cause the non-smokers, especially pregnant women, unborn baby and children to have health problem and diseases. Generally, the diseases like coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other breathing problems are caused by second-hand smoke. Pregnant women who exposed to second-hand smoke will increase the risk of complications during and after the pregnancy.
According to Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention(n.d.), In 2016, there were about 3,600 Sudden Unexpected Infant Deaths (SUID) in the United States. The babies were borned by the mothers who exposed to second-hand smoke will have the negative impacts such as weight loss, respirations’ problems and SUID. Thus, the smokers smoke in public places will harm the people around especially pregnant women and children. Furthermore, the contains of second hand smoke will increase the risk of developing dementia and other forms of cognitive impairment. Harmful substances in the second hand smoke such as nicotine can harden the blood vessels of the brain and affect brain’s function.
The research that was conducted by Dr David Llewellyn from the University of Cambridge and his collaborators published in British Medical Journal highlighted a 44 per cent increase in risk of cognitive impairment for those who are exposed to high levels of passive smoking or second hand smoke. Besides, children exposed to second hand smoke will reduce vocabulary and reading skills when compared with non-exposed children as well as more general cognitive and intellectual deficits. For adults who exposed to second hand smoke will significantly reduced performance of their brain to process information and perform tasks. Overall, second hand smoke is one of the reasons which increases the risk of cognitive impairment to people. In conclusion, smoking should be prohibited or banned since it is the main cause of preventable diseases as well as premature deaths all over the world.
Smoking will cause health problems, environment pollution and disruption to other people. “According to the World Health Organization (WHO), someone dies from taking tobacco about every 6.5 seconds — that is over 13,000 people a day on average. WHO also posits that tobacco smoking killed an estimated 100 million people worldwide in the 20th Century and predicts that smoking could eventually kill one billion people around the world during 21st Century” (Claire, 2010, para. 2). It means that every four seconds people would die as a result of tobacco use.
Smoking brings many disadvantages and negative impacts to us. The earlier we can ban smoking in public places, the better it would be for the human kind, so banning smoking in public may lead to a better way of life and a healthier place to live. ReferencesTobacco (2018). World Health Organization. Retrieved from, http://www.who.
int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco(n. d.). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC – Data and Statistics – SIDS and SUID – Reproductive Health. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/sids/data.
htmSecond-hand smoke linked to cognitive impairment (2009, February 12), Retrived from University of Cambridge website, http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/second-hand-smoke-linked-to-cognitive-impairmentMiller, C. (2010, October 28).
A Reflection and Case Study on Banning Smoking in Public Places. Retrieved from https://soapboxie.com/social-issues/Smoking-Ban-Good-or-Bad
