A Critique of Thank You for Smoking?

A Critique of “Thank You for Smoking…?”

Peter Brimelow’s “Thank You for Smoking…?” had me interested from the title alone. This essay lists a few of the benefits that can occur from smoking. Bimelow is aware of the many dangers of smoking as he acknowledges “the Environmental Protection Agency has claimed that ‘second hand smoke’ is a significant risk for nonsmokers and the Food & Drug Administration is making noises about regulating nicotine as a drug” (The Genre of Argument 141). Brimelow’s essay gives some reasons why and how smoking can be beneficial in some small ways. The message Brimelow is trying to get out is that, “smoking might be, in some small ways, good for you” (141). Brimelow uses words and phrases such as “might be” and “some” to narrow down his major claim. Brimelow’s major claim that smoking can be healthy in some ways. In some studies, certain cancers have been shown to appear less in smokers than nonsmokers. This leads us to believe that smoking may be beneficial in some ways. I think this essay is successful because of the evidence presented along with the narrow major claim.

The author’s purpose in this essay is to show how smoking can be beneficial in some ways. Brimelow presents his credibility with studies from the International Journal of Epidemiology, New England Journal of Medicine, and Journal of the American Medical Association (Brimelow 142). He notes that smoking can both calm and stimulate people. Smoking has been shown to calm people while driving if they take long puffs. Smoking has also been shown to stimulate if taken in quick, short puffs. Brimelow reiterates this by telling us that “Current understanding is that nicotine is ‘amphoteric’ –that is, it can act to counter both conditions, depending on how it is consumed” (142). This is a reason how smoking can be beneficial.

I would not think smoking could be beneficial in any way. However, Brimelow achieved his purpose in this essay and may have changed my mind. He used reliable resources for his evidence with studies that astonished me. I did not know some studies have shown some cancers to occur 50% less in smokers than nonsmokers. He gives a valid argument with these studies along with a theoretical example which I am still thinking about.