Public Smoking | Teen Ink

Public Smoking

February 18, 2008
By Anonymous

In today’s top selling products, the majority of Americans already know for a fact that the tobacco and cigarette industry is a billion dollar business that continues to grow and expand. But what we do not have any knowledge of is that the people who run cigarette companies such as Newport and Kool could care less about who smokes their products and where they smoke it at. This industry’s only interest is, as most of us already know, money and the more we feed into their selling and advertising tactics, the more ‘green’ they get to save up in their massive bank accounts. So far, cities like New York have banned smoking in restaurants and bars. Now the debate is on whether smoking should be banned in ALL public places. Well, I can without a doubt say that if I had my way, smoking would be banned in every single public place there is. I express this thought because if smoking became prohibited in public places, fewer pollutants would be in the air and the number of cigarettes purchased by the American public throughout the year would decrease as well as the number of cigarette sales. Also, had the government placed a ban on public smoking, the number of deaths would decrease while the average life span increased.


In a country where the pollution rates are high enough, public smoking only contributes to the nasty particles that we breathe on a daily basis. Planes, cars, and house fires already add to the pollution enough without smokers releasing exhaling the cigarette smoke from their mouths and releasing it into the air. Had we as an American public taken a stand on public smoking, there would be less worry on the pollutants that continue to add to the destruction of our atmosphere.

On another note, I believe that if smoking had been forbidden in pubic areas, smokers would lower the amount of cigarettes they smoke a day. This would also lower the amount of cigarette pouches that the average smoker purchases and bring the cigarette producers to an all time low in their sales. Cigarette producers deserve no mercy because they continue to knowingly sell products that poison the consumer’s body. Although consumers know the risk of smoking, had it not been for constant advertisements that entices customers, no one would be purchasing cigarettes. Had I been able seize the power, I’d demolish the tobacco companies and be sure that it could never again rise to power.


The U.S. endures enough deaths a year from gun violence, heart attacks, and car accidents without smokers slowly killing themselves with the help of cigarettes. If a smoking relative of mine ever asked me to go purchase a pack of cigarettes for them, my conscious would never allow me to live with the thought of aiding a loved one in their death.


All in all, banning public smoking would benefit us all tremendously. If smokers wish to slowly kill themselves and risks getting horrible diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer, then allow them to do so in the privacy of their own homes. I do not think that it is fair for a person to smoke in a vicinity where other people, especially toddlers and elders, are having to smell the very unpleasant scent that comes with smoking. Public smoking is wrong and I think it is about time that people realize and take a stand.


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