by Basia
Smoking has been considered one of the world’s largest health problems for decades now. Tobacco consumption not only is a major cause of illness and death, but also damages the environment, exacerbates poverty, and contributes to world hunger. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) worldwide there are approximately 1 billion male and 250 million female smokers. Does that mean that smoking should be made illegal? Would that really solve the problem?
Worldwide, more than 10% of young teens are smokers. American Lung Association’s research shows that every day over 2,500 children under the age of 18 try their first cigarette, of which 400 will become new, regular daily smokers in the future. Ultimately, half of them will die from the tragic consequences of their habit. Everything is very easily accessible nowadays and that seems to worsen the issue. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
Considering these dramatic statistics, it goes without saying that drastic measures should be taken in order to eliminate the deadly habit from our lives. One way to do so could potentially be banning cigarettes. Completely.
However, passing such a ban would not be as easy as it may look. Furthermore, politically and economically it would be quite impossible. Smoking has been around too long and industries that profit from it will fight till the end to keep benefiting from their business. Barriers to passing such a law would also include the cost and, most importantly, the rise of a black market for cigarettes, experts say. Once an addicting substance, like tobacco, is in wide use, it’s hard to “turn around’’ and make it illegal. Many people will find their way to smoke either way, just like it happens with drugs.
Therefore, we should most certainly stigmatize it and educate against it in order to try to slowly eliminate the issue. The idea to ban smoking, however, is well-intended, but slightly ill-conceived and unlikely to happen.
photo by HansMartinPaul @pixabay
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