Smoke Slaughter Imagine locking a child in a room with no windows, quickly blowing smoke through the vents. So much that they cannot see, they begin coughing and can barely breathe. If that seems inhumane, then why is it still legal to smoke in many public places or in the car while those in surrounding areas have no escape? According to the Centers for Disease Control, “More than 480,000 deaths occur annually” due to smoking, including secondhand smoke. Why do we keep killing ourselves? Why won’t the United States just create more restrictions on smoking to resolve the problem?
First of all, The American Academy of Pediatrics states that secondhand smoke has negative health effects on children of all ages. Starting at the womb there …show more content…
According to the American Lung Associations, “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous,” Health problems related to smoking are, heart and gum disease, lung oral and other various types of cancer, Buerger’s Disease, and the list goes on and on. These health problems can then lead to the over 480,000 deaths that occur each year due to smoking. That overwhelming death toll is greater than the number of casualties caused by AIDS, car accidents, drugs, fires, murders, alcohol, and suicides combined, according to thetruth.com, a campaign created to end smoking for good in the United States. As a non-smoker, consider all the years you spent making all the right decisions even under the immense pressure of your peers. Now imagine being faced with lung cancer or Buerger’s disease, all due to the fact that you fell victim to secondhand smoke. Even having made the right decision, you are now punished with the consequences of the decisions of those around you . Now jump into the mindset of the smoker, watching a family member or friend suffer through that pain, because you spent years smoking around them without considering the repercussions it could create, and now you are left with guilt of being their demise. Once again, this would have …show more content…
In my family, all of my grandparents smoke cigarettes and have all but my Grandfather have died because of it. My Grandma Nyoka fought a long battle with esophageal IV cancer which had a 4% survival rate. My Grandma Phyllis passed just this weekend due to lung cancer. Even watching these long and miserable illnesses take over our loved one’s lives, my stepmother continues to smoke, often times in the car with the windows up. This is especially wrong because my younger brother suffers from asthma and her smoking is no help to his cause. According to a recent report done by the CDC, more than 2/3 of smokers want to quit, sadly few succeed in their attempt. People fear the failure they’ve faced in past attempts, weight gain, or doubt that they can handle the symptoms of withdrawal. What smokers need to realize is that quitting is a process and requires a support group, patience, and can even find help from treatment centers, medications, or counseling. Now, put yourself in my shoes or in anyone else’s life who suffers from the effects of someone else’s decision to smoke. Just one step in the right direction would be making a nationwide ban of smoking in any public place which could then lead to the outlawing of smoking in cars, eventually the ban of smoking in general. Some insist that smoking in the car should remain
First of all, The American Academy of Pediatrics states that secondhand smoke has negative health effects on children of all ages. Starting at the womb there …show more content…
According to the American Lung Associations, “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous,” Health problems related to smoking are, heart and gum disease, lung oral and other various types of cancer, Buerger’s Disease, and the list goes on and on. These health problems can then lead to the over 480,000 deaths that occur each year due to smoking. That overwhelming death toll is greater than the number of casualties caused by AIDS, car accidents, drugs, fires, murders, alcohol, and suicides combined, according to thetruth.com, a campaign created to end smoking for good in the United States. As a non-smoker, consider all the years you spent making all the right decisions even under the immense pressure of your peers. Now imagine being faced with lung cancer or Buerger’s disease, all due to the fact that you fell victim to secondhand smoke. Even having made the right decision, you are now punished with the consequences of the decisions of those around you . Now jump into the mindset of the smoker, watching a family member or friend suffer through that pain, because you spent years smoking around them without considering the repercussions it could create, and now you are left with guilt of being their demise. Once again, this would have …show more content…
In my family, all of my grandparents smoke cigarettes and have all but my Grandfather have died because of it. My Grandma Nyoka fought a long battle with esophageal IV cancer which had a 4% survival rate. My Grandma Phyllis passed just this weekend due to lung cancer. Even watching these long and miserable illnesses take over our loved one’s lives, my stepmother continues to smoke, often times in the car with the windows up. This is especially wrong because my younger brother suffers from asthma and her smoking is no help to his cause. According to a recent report done by the CDC, more than 2/3 of smokers want to quit, sadly few succeed in their attempt. People fear the failure they’ve faced in past attempts, weight gain, or doubt that they can handle the symptoms of withdrawal. What smokers need to realize is that quitting is a process and requires a support group, patience, and can even find help from treatment centers, medications, or counseling. Now, put yourself in my shoes or in anyone else’s life who suffers from the effects of someone else’s decision to smoke. Just one step in the right direction would be making a nationwide ban of smoking in any public place which could then lead to the outlawing of smoking in cars, eventually the ban of smoking in general. Some insist that smoking in the car should remain