Argumentative Essay on Cigarette Smoking

â€Å"Cigarette smoking in the Philippines should be banned because it poses a great threat to the health of the family members† Argumentative essay I. Introduction A. It has been an increasing concern about the effects of smoking in the family. B. Cigarette smoking not only affects the smoker but also the others around the smoker. II. Body (Discuss the issue) A. Smoking is mostly caused by sociocultural factors. * They smoke to gain adult status. * They smoke to conform to their social group. B. Smoking causes cancer and other respiratory diseases. C. When there is a smoker in the family; it is most likely that the members of the family will be influenced by smoking. III. Cigarette smoking should be banned to decrease the health threats. Cigarette smoking is the inhalation of gases and hydrocarbon vapors generated by slowly burning tobacco in cigarettes. The harmful substances found in cigarettes and cigars are the carbon monoxide, nicotine, and tar. Carbon monoxide is the gas that impairs the capacity of the blood to supply adequate amounts of oxygen to the vital organs of the body and is responsible for the shortness of breath among smokers. Nicotine is the substance that creates dependence on tobacco and is responsible in raising blood pressure and heart rate. The tar is the brownish viscous substance found in smoke known to be a cancer-causing agent. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of preventable diseases and premature death. Smoking has been associated with lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, ischemic heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Taking in a lot of these chemicals harms your body in severe ways. You will have incurable diseases and suffer from it. Most of the smokers know that already, they just can’t quit yet because of its addicting content. But, they do need to be aware that cigarette smoking causes harm not only to the smoker but also to the people around him. It has been an increasing concern about the effects of the smoking habits of a family member to other members of the family. Secondhand smoke also known as passive smoke, â€Å"is a mixture of 2 forms of smoke that comes from burning tobacco: Sidestream smoke (smoke that comes from the lighted end of a cigarette and mainstream smoke (smoke exhaled by a smoker)† (â€Å"Secondhand smoke,† 2011). It is passive smoking when non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke (â€Å"Secondhand smoke,† 2011).. When they inhale secondhand smoke, they take in nicotine and other chemicals just like the smokers do (â€Å"Secondhand smoke,† 2011). According to the quittersguide, â€Å"secondhand smoke immediately affects the heart and blood circulation, and over time it causes heart disease and lung cancer† (quittersguide, 2008). Smoking is mostly caused by the sociocultural factor. They smoke because they need to fit in with their social group who smoke (Cortes, 2011). It is because some think when you are smoking cigarettes, you would look cool. For teens, they smoke because they want to attain adult status (Cortes, 1998). Some teens think that if you smoke cigarettes, you would look mature because normally, adults smoke but now even teens do it. Sometimes, they learn how to smoke because of curiosity. A Youth Tobacco Survey by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Philippine Chapter has been conducted among grade school and high school students in Metro Manila. Dr. Lopez said that â€Å"the DOH survey found that an estimated 42 per cent students have tried smoking cigarettes, with 15 per cent admitting they smoked their first stick before reaching the age of 10. Twenty-two per cent, practically the same as the ACCP survey s 18. per cent, admitted to being current smokers. † (â€Å"Cigarette smoking among teens is high,† 2006) In addition to that the DOH also found out that exposure to cigarette smoking in the environment is very high with 60 per cent of parents of the respondents smoking at home. Peer influence also came up with 3 out of 4 students reported that their friends s moke in their presence (â€Å"Cigarette smoking among teens is high,† 2006). Ye (2001) stated, â€Å"The tobacco or cigarette is the most substantial and successful economic enterprises † (p. 1). It provides jobs and gains taxes for the government (Ye, 2001). Cigarette production greatly helps the country's economy as well as being an import and export material. However, effects of cigarette smoking turned bad. According to Bihari (2007), It was 1950 when the first major evidence that links cigarette smoking to serious studies by Doll and Hill (1950) and Wynder and Graham (1950). In July 1954, Reader's Digest published a lead article (Miller & Monahan, 1954) that exposes the health hazards of smoking by linking smoking and lung cancer (Bihari, 2007). The results were a drastic decline on cigarette consumption per head (Bihari, 2007). By 1955, cigarette consumption rose again. Although there have been an increasing number of medical studies linking smoking to serious diseases such as cancer and respiratory diseases, the government began to consider measure to control smoking (Bihari, 2007). Smoking is a major factor in heart diseases and â€Å"seems to be the most common factor in an environment which leads to heart attack† (Andrada, 1993). Even though the government was largely swayed by the tobacco lobby, they began to take action because of the pressures from anti-smoking lobby and the growing concerns of concerned people (Bihari, 2007). They have already put a ban on advertising cigarettes on television and other types of Medias (Mizrahy, 1998). Even from constant reminders from the media, the anti-smoking people and even the cigarette package has a warning, many people are still smoking. A member in the family who is a smoker immediately harms other members of the family. Children in particular are much more sensitive to secondhand smoke (â€Å"smoking and your family,† 2008). Risks of asthma, ear infection and lung diseases increases when they are exposed to secondhand smoke (â€Å"Smoking and your family,† 2008). Some of these problems can be serious and even life-threatening. Others may seem like small problems, but they add up quickly: think of the expenses, doctor visits, medicines, lost school time, and often lost work time for the parent who must take the child to the doctor† (Secondhand smoke, 2011) Some people when they smoke at home, they are aware that it is their body that they are d estroying. However, they are not aware that it is not only them that are harmed, but also the other people around them especially their family (quittersguide, 2008). According to Bantle and Haisken-DeNew (2002), â€Å"We find strong evidence, that parental smoking significantly increases the probability that their children likewise become smokers. Youths living in families with both parents smoking are 3. 3 times more likely to smoke themselves, while a smoking father raises the probability by the factor 2. 8 and a smoking mother by the factor 2. 1. † It is also agreed by quittersguide (2008) that the children of smokers are most likely to be smokers but they will probably start in their teens which may make it difficult for them to quit. When parents smoke, it is also most likely that the addiction will be passed from one member to another so that the whole family will be smokers. Tolerant attitudes of parent towards smoking creates higher smoking risks while parents who do not approve of smoking and â€Å"does not make it known are less likely to raise children who smoke†(OMalley, 2010). So, why won't we ban cigarette smoking and its production? It is because of production of this provides jobs and gains taxes for the government (Ye, 2001). Moreover, some officials won’t permit to it because they work for the government and the government gains taxes from those who buy cigarettes. Additionally, if you ban cigarette production, circulation, buying and selling, addicted cigarette smokers will go crazy because cigarette contains nicotine which is addictive and relatively damages the brain so it will be hard to ban. But, even if it provides jobs and gains taxes for the government which is a good thing economically, the result of the product they produce harms and kills people even though the some of the people are not into smoking. So, it would be a good thing to ban cigarettes and find a new source of income like those handmade stuff or they research about a new product to manufacture which will be a hit, at the same time not dangerous. The government has taken 17 years(1987) when the first bill on anti-smoking was introduced in the Philippines for it to be passed into law (Mercado, 2010). It should be clear that cigarette smoking should be banned in the Philippines because of the effects poses a great threat to the people. Fortunately, some voices were heard some provisions were made that smoking will be banned in public places (Tan, 2011). And, what should be done is that smoking should be discouraged to the people. References: Bihari S, B. A. , M. S. W. , M. C. M. , M. S. A. E. (2007). History of government regulation on cigarette industry. Essays on the Effect of Government Intervention on the Conduct and Performance of Cigarette Firms. Retrieved from http://0-proquest. umi. com. lib1000. dlsu. edu. ph/pqdlink? RQT=306;TS=1313073324;clientId=47883 Ye, Y. (2001). Introduction. A Microeconometric Analysis of Cigarette Consumption. Retrieved from http://0-proquest. umi. com. lib1000. dlsu. edu. ph/pqdlink? RQT=306;TS=1313