Be Smart, Don’t start.
We can vividly recall the endless television commercials from reporters and speeches we received from teachers that informed us of the side affects of smoking. As young boys, neither one of us quite understood what was so bad about smoking. We just knew it was frowned upon, and it was strictly discouraged by our parents. Recently our foundations were shaken when we read an article by Peter Brimelow that presented smoking as beneficial and a preventative tool against certain diseases and cancers. Was our education about smoking just a myth programmed into our heads? According to Brimelow it was. Brimelow provides clear and evident research and statistics supporting the fact that smoking is healthy.
Thank you for Smoking
In the article “Thank You for Smoking…?” by Brimelow, the major claim is that smoking, in some ways, may be good for one and one’s health. Brimelow reports that people who smoke have half the risk of getting Parkinson’s disease compared to that of non-smokers. People who smoke have been found to have a 50% less chance of getting Alzheimer’s disease. Smokers have a 50% lower rate of prostate cancer than that of non-smokers and a fifty percent chance of developing colon and ulcerative cancer. It is clear that smoking can considerably reduce the chance of contracting some of the most deadly diseases in the United States today (Brimelow 142).
Brimelow doesn’t stop with just presenting statistics. He points out that smoking is an individual’s freedom as an American. Every American is defensive toward their rights and freedoms provided by the Constitution, so the issue stirs an up an emotional and value orientated interest. Whether people view smoking as good or bad,...
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...ential evidence and data to keep people smoking and to inform people of the benefits of smoking. Readers are also reminded of their individual rights, which is never a bad thing. However, the information presented is somewhat lopsided. The reader is not informed of the terrible negatives caused by smoking. We feel that smoking is a person’s right. However when we endure the effects of second hand smoke, our rights are also violated. Let it be known, that smoking really is bad for one, and the effect can be fatal to the smokers and the people in the environment surrounding them. Be smart. Don’t start.
Works Cited
Brimelow, Peter, “Thank You for Smoking...?” The Genre of Argument Ed. Irene L. Clark Boston: Thomson/Heinle, 1998. 141-143
“Health Tobacco Report.” Carter. 22 Mar. 1998. 7 Oct. 2003 http://www.napanet.net/~joshc/smoking/effects.htm.
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