The Importance Of Smoking In America

Superior Essays
Imagine a smoke filled room, in which people are constantly entering and leaving while unknowingly breathing in poisonous chemicals that will ensure cancer and other serious medical conditions in the future. Later in life, the people that unknowingly inhaled the dangerous chemicals will experience medical catastrophes that can and will negatively affect their family and everyone around them. This is the modern American society that has a population of over 316 million people. According to cancer.org, over 42 million adults are smokers in the US. The current insufficient laws and regulations concerning smoking allow this percentage of Americans to affect the rest of the population. Almost all Americans are affected directly by smoking and …show more content…
Secondhand smoke can take place anywhere at any time. This is because of the lack of regulations that surround where and when to smoke. Laws like H.R. 1256 attempt to eradicate the issue by regulation of the source. These laws in particular directly affect smoking by controlling companies’ ability to market and advertise their tobacco products. Although these laws help to progress towards a smoke free picture, these laws still don’t help to eradicate the problem that is sitting at America’s doorstep. Although these laws seem like they are beneficial, the laws also can hurt the economic stability of America. Although smoking is hard truth for many Americans to face, tobacco marketing makes up a large portion of the economy. This is why America should slowly convert to a smoke free atmosphere by limiting smoking as a first step. Groups like the lung organization are making strides in promoting a smoke free environment for their workers. The Lung Organization describes its goals by saying, “Lung diseases are among the most common and costly of all health problems. Many potential causes of lung disease can be found in the workplace, but with the proper measures can be easily controlled, creating safer and healthier working conditions for all employees,” Workplace wellness / stop-smoking. This is an important step in the process, as it publicizes the benefits of limiting …show more content…
Tobacco is soaked in chemicals from the very beginning of production. According to Greenleaf.com, once the tobacco that is covered in pesticide is picked, “After the tobacco plants are picked, they are dried, and machines break up the leaves into small pieces. Artificial flavorings and other chemicals are added”. The Lung Organization said, “The 600 ingredients in cigarettes produce over 7000 chemicals when burned.” They have also identified some of these chemicals like methanol and arsenic to be main ingredients of everyday hazardous materials. Arsenic, one of the best known deadly substances, is a base ingredient in most household rat poisons. Methanol is the most important base substance in jet fuel. Other chemicals include benzene (used in rubber), toluene (used to make paints), and lead. These chemicals all have a unique effect on the human body and change the body in a different way when ingested. Arsenic for example takes a different amount of time to enter the blood stream depending on how soluble the particles are. Once the particles are absorbed, small doses can cause coughing and big doses cause

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