Should cigarettes be banned? – nola.com

Tobacco causes 6-7 million deaths per year around the world. Some argue an outright ban on cigarettes is necessary in order to address the massive public health risk they pose to smokers and nonsmokers alike. Others say banning cigarettes violates personal freedom. An estimated 34.3 million Americans smoke cigarettes. A ban would mean massive changes in addictive behavior for each of them, but it could also mean saving the lives of the people they interact with. Should cigarettes be banned?

In the United States alone, cigarette smoking causes 480,000 deaths every year, making it the leading cause of preventable death. Secondhand smoke causes 41,000 deaths per year.

Tuxedo cigarette can lead to lung cancer, heart disease and stroke. Although smoking in the United States is on the decline, cigarettes would help prevent the death of tobacco in the 21st century. The BMJ Journal of Medical Ethics explains:

The weightiest factor supporting a ban, we argue, is the often substantial well-being of people suffering from smoking … The potential gains in well-being and equality, we argue, outweigh the limits , its failure to respect some individuals' individual choice and the likelihood that it may, in individual cases, reduce well-being.

Although banning cigarettes would certainly help the public health of the country, it would also contribute to inequality.

If the U.S. place a ban on cigarettes, a significant portion of its population could find itself addicted to a new illicit substance. If lawmakers take a step further and make possession of tobacco illegal -a year 2013 Oregon bill-smokers could face fines and prison time.

The last thing the U.S. criminal justice system needs is more drug-related crimes. Banning cigarettes would mount inequality and bias.

Hawaii might be the first state to be a cigarette ban into effect. According to State Representative Richard Creagan, cigarette taxing is not enough. As long as people are still dying from smoking, there is something more about their government.

KRON4 reports:

Creagan dismisses the argument that his proposal would be a smoker's civil liberty, saying it is something the tobacco industry has long cited.

Creagan plans to roll out the phases in the state of the tax system. He also looks forward to growing tourism as a result of the ban, implying that "if Hawaii becomes the first cigarette-free destination, visitors will flock here."

"Our beaches will be free of cigarette butts, our parks, all of that. Kids will not be exposed. You will not have to worry about your baby or your dog chewing on a cigarette butt, I mean, we'll be the first state to be cigarette-free and i think that's really cool. "

Hawaii could be first in US

Smoking is already well-publicized in the public discourse-and rightfully so-but-smokers themselves should not be subject to the same demonization. One smoker writes on Quora:

… the government should not be able to make us smokers because we know the harm it does to our bodies.

I have the same opinion about the government trying to get rid of some soda over a certain size, it's up to the individual drinkers what they want to put in their body, if they like soda, they should not be penalized for it.

To a point, you have the right to choose what you can in your body. By grouping cigarettes with other illegal substances, the government would be interfering with individual liberty.

A ban on cigarettes could work help the playing field in the long run. According to the BMI Journal of Ethics:

Of course, not all disadvantaged people, and not all smokers are disadvantaged, socio-economically or otherwise. In the aggregate, however, Studies suggest that, in Europe, smoking could be the single largest contributor to socio-economic inequalities in health, among men. In the UK, tobacco is considered the cause of death.

A ban on cigarettes will not change the behavior of Americans overnight. One smoker writes on Quora:

To be completely honest if you're going to be growing up (I'm going to give you that up easily). I will continue smoking it because I enjoy it. I enjoy the smells, tastes, and sight of the feathers of smoke rising out of my pipes and cigars.

A ban on cigarettes would only turn many Americans' personal decision into an illegal activity, and even then would have resulted in the absence of cigarettes.