Smoking Cigarettes Persuasive Essay

Smoking cigarettes have been a growing trend among people of all ages for the past couple of decades. Before extensive research was done regarding cigarettes and their effects on health many did not understand the negative effects that come with smoking. Today, people are well aware of what it does to your body but somehow this damaging drug is still sold to the general public. The production and sale of cigarettes should be made illegal because cigarette companies target youth, cigarettes are known to create psychological dependency issues, and they expose others to the unwanted toxins.
Teenage smoking is not unorthodox in today’s society. Smoking cigarettes is seen as a “rebellious” activity that makes a person look calm and collected. Cigarette companies use this normality to target young people who want to partake in the activities their friends are doing. According to Richard Pollay and his colleagues, corporate documents were found in a case showing that a Canadian cigarette company was specifically targeting teens starting at the age of fifteen using their psychological needs for visual effects in the advertisements (Pollay). The …show more content…
Cigarettes also have psychological issues that come with usage. Cigarettes contain the drug nicotine, a very addictive drug that has been known to cause several types of cancer (Benowitz). Knowing these risks people still support these killers rather than putting an end to it. What is not in the advertisements is how hooked a person can get after just one cigarette. After just one, a person has the urge to have more and more. It has also been found that the withdrawal symptoms of other drugs are exacerbated when using drugs such as nicotine found in cigarettes (Stewart). So the more this damaging drug is used, the harder it is to quit. This addiction epidemic is made worse by the use of cigarettes and should be stopped