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Smoking bans and public health
Smoking bans and public health
Smoking bans and public health
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“…..Nearly half the adult population regularly performs a bizarre act which is necessary neither for the maintenance of life nor for the satisfaction of social, sexual, cultural, or spiritual needs; an act which is acknowledged, even by its adherents, to be harmful to health and even distasteful” (Aston and Stepney 1982: VII). Regarding the above statement a vast majority of anti-smoking campaigners believe that the restriction on smoking in public locations should be increased and effective actions should be taken by governments in order to reduce the consumption of tobacco. On the other hand, addicted smokers consider smoking prohibition as interference in their civil freedom. Though they argue that they have the right to smoke whenever and wherever they want; governments consider passive smoking’s threats as a major priority to deal with. This essay will discuss the policies taken by governments to decrease or even stop smoking among the public. Moreover, it will present smoker’s arguments regarding their right to smoke in public places.
Passive smoking also known as second hand smoking is one of the major reasons of smoking restrictions in public places. It can be defined as inhalation of someone else’s smoke implicitly. It occurs when smoke infuses in the air, making people around to breathe it indirectly. The first global study into the effects of passive smoking was carried out by world health organization (WHO) in 2004 among 192 countries. The study found that, passive smoking kills around 600,000 humans worldwide every year, in which more than 34% are children and decreases the life expectancy by 10 years. The study concluded that passive smoking is responsible for majority of heart diseases, asthma, respiratory ill...
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...kes it quite hard for both parties to find a way from this calamity. There are a number of different way outs for both governments and smokers to give up smoking. Governments should try to make new polices against smoking, and correspondingly smokers should try to help their selves to leave up this nasty habit.
Bibliography
MARSH, A. and MCKAY, S. (1994) Poor Smokers. 1st. ed. Great Britain: Bourne Press.
ASHTON, H. and STEPNEY, R. (1982) Smoking Psychology and Pharmacology. 1st. ed. Great Britain: Cambridge University press.
Smoking Act 2003: Chapter 206 [online] POST 1996
Available at ; http://www.parliament.uk/documents/post/pn206.pdf
[Accessed 8th July, 2011]
Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11844169
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Available from: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Smoking-The-Facts.htm
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The smoking issue is very complicated and some of the arguments are beyond the scope of this essay. Still, we can obtain a balanced outlook if we consider the following: the facts of smoking, individual right, societal responsibility, and the stigma of smoking. Haviland and King write essays which contain very important points, but seem to contain a bias which may alienate some people. To truly reach a consensus on the smoking issue, we must be willing to meet each other halfway. We must strike equilibrium between individual right and societal responsibility.
Renneboog, R. M. (2016). Cigarette Smoking Bans: An Overview. Canadian Points Of View: Cigarette Smoking Bans, 1.
This paper will focus on looking at if e-cigarettes and other therapies are a valid way to help stop smoking. Doctors and patients alike need a definitive answer for this. This is a topic which is relevant at the moment as e-cigarettes become more prevalent in the United Kingdom (UK). As “current use [of e-cigarettes has] more than doubled from 2.7% of smokers in 2010 to 6.7% in 2012.”3 This paper will cover nicotine as a neurotoxin and how it affects the brain and body, what mechanisms nicotine uses and adverse signs and symptoms of nicotine use and overdose. This paper will also cover nicotine replacement therapies (NRT’s) such as gum, patches and oral spray but will focus mainly on e-cigarettes. It should be noted that as e-cigarettes have not been tested thoroughly, therefore they can’t be marketed as a nicotine replacement therapy by UK law at time of writing.
...ife. Furthermore smoker’s needs to be encouraged to quit thus it may take many attempts before victims can quit completely. However, good communication with smokers needs careful discussion to reduce the risk of earlier failure problems facing quitting. If nurses can make it their duty by reaching out to each of their patients about quitting smoking, then this would go a long wait in reaching a lot of people even if they don’t want to. There is already smoke free policy in the UK which is working and hopefully will still help in the reduction of smoking con gumption. It is important the government do more of anti-smoking campaigns to reach out to the manual and routine group and make follow up in regards to quitting completely. Furthermore, they need to increase tax rates on tobacco and put an end to shops that still advertising cigarette smoking in their shops
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.
Smoking cigarettes is a detrimental practice not only to the smoker, but also to everyone around the smoker. According to an article from the American Lung Association, “Health Effects” (n.d.), “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing over 438,000 deaths per year”. The umbrella term for tobacco use includes the use of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigs and chewing tobacco. While tobacco causes adverse health consequences, it also has been a unifying factor for change in public health. While the tobacco industries targets specific populations, public health specifically targets smokers, possible smokers, and the public to influence cessation, policies and education.
This year alone cigarettes will kill over 420,000 Americans, and many more will suffer from cancers, and circulatory and respiratory system diseases. These horrible illnesses were known to come from cigarettes for years. Recently the Food and Drug Administration declared nicotine, the main chemical in cigarettes, addictive. This explains why smokers continue to use cigarettes even though smokers are aware of the constantly warned about health dangers in cigarettes. Some researchers have also found out that smoking by pregnant women causes the deaths of over 5,000 babies and 115,000 miscarriages. The only way to get rid of the suffering and loss of life by cigarettes is to ban them. . For years cigarettes have been known to cause cancer, emphysema, and other horrible illnesses. The deaths of over 420,000 of Americans this year will be do to cigarettes. With all the other causes of deaths, alcohol, illegal drugs, AIDS, suicide, transportation accidents, fires, and guns, cigarettes still count for more deaths than those do combined. We can’t stand and watch people die because they smoke cigarettes. Thousands of smokers try to rid themselves of cigarettes but can't because of additive nicotine. Nicotine was recently declared addictive by the Food and Drug Administration, which explains why many smokers continue to smoke despite the health warnings on cigarette smoking. Nicotine makes it almost impossible for cigarette smokers to quit smoking because of its addictive nature, and with the cigarette manufacturers putting just enough nicotine in the so they cant be outlawed. The benefits of outlawing cigarettes greatly outnumber the disadvantages, for example, many scientists believe a link between smoking and a shortened life span exists between the two, a ban on cigarettes could increase life spans. Many studies suggest that billions of dollars now spent on smoking related. Smoking related illnesses could be reduced by outlawing cigarettes, families could save money by not purchasing cigarettes, and accidental fires costing millions of dollars caused by cigarettes would stop. Although a complete ban on cigarettes currently remains almost impossible, several organizations recently helped create a bill that could control cigarettes much in the same way the government now controls drugs. One such organization, the Food and Drug Administration, headed by David Kesslar drafted a major part, which would require manufacturers to disclose the 700 chemical additives in cigarettes, reduce the level of harmful chemicals, require cigarette companies to warn of the addictive nicotine, restrict tobacco advertising and promotion, and control the level of nicotine cigarettes contain.
Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.
Second Hand Smoke In the 1950's and 60's scientists gave the people a lot of evidence on the deadly effects of smoking where the tobacco companies on the other hand tried to put the doubt in people’s minds through the campaigns to show that it is not all true. By the time people actually decided to take care of their health and finally saw how life-threatening smoking could be by real life examples, the tobacco companies already got rich from its sales. Nowadays, nobody doubts that “firsthand” smoke is deadly to your health and it causes lung cancer and heart disease in adults and asthma and bronchitis in children. Now the industry is onto the secondhand smoke. Scientists and researchers are representing a lot of evidence and research that has been done throughout the years showing that the secondhand smoke can also cause a lung cancer in nonsmokers. The study has been done of people who have been long exposed to secondhand smoke and it shows that 26 out of 33 published studies indicate a link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer. The study estimates that the people that were breathing secondhand smoke were 8 to 150 percent more likely to get lung cancer. The tobacco companies are trying to argue the facts and are still in serious debate about the health hazards of breathing a secondhand smoke. A lot of anti-smoking organizations are trying to turn smoking in public into a private activity that does not have to involve nonsmokers breathing secondhand smoke. What is even more important is that many of these organizations convinced a lot of smokers to cut back or quit completely. The problem of secondhand smoke is increasing because it is so common in our society. It makes secondhand smoke the third-ranking cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. Mothers who live with a smoking spouse have to realize the ill effects of secondhand smoke on children even before they are born. The smoking components reach the developing fetus through the mother. Infants that are born in a smoking environment weigh less and have a weaker chance of becoming a fully developed child. Secondhand smoke leads to blood clots and damages arterial linings which are the two most leading factors in the development of heart disease. The tobacco companies got scared of the effect that the secondhand smoke research can do to the cigarette makers.
...the state. The anti-smoker unfortunately has to face the fact that all of the smoking issues will always be there since cigarettes will always be put on sale. The tobacco industry would always in attempt to increase their sales with so many ways. The points that need to be emphasized are the consequences. Smoking brings tremendous harm in various forms of diseases not only to the smokers, but also to the people that are exposed to the smoke. The lethal consequences of smoking are incomparable to the short time of stress relief that the smokers might receive. The smoking ban and other means of tobacco control are required to help smokers stop smoking by limiting the frequency of smoking. The reducing number of smokers will reduce the exposure of secondhand smoke, which results in a healthier environment and smaller number of smoking related diseases and even death.
Although it is beneficial for the economy for the production of tobacco products it is extremely risky to use the product. According to researchers second-hand smoke is terrible for everyone in the world who walk by someone who is exhaling. In the article by Robert Proctor “Why ban the sale of cigarettes? The case for abolition” he states that cigarettes are the “most deadl...
Bell, K. (2013). Where there's smoke there's fire: Outdoor smoking bans and claims to public space. Contemporary Drug Problems, 40(1), 99-128.
Most controversial debate is going on public smoking ban. The reason is simple, smoking ban affects directly all people rapidly and we can see its effects in a short-term period. There have been a lot of arguments brought up both in favour and against a public smoking ban. Some of the arguments in favour are the following. Smoking ban is one of the controversial ways for reducing smoking and recognizing non-smokers’ right to health protection. The health risks of smoking are clear. Passive smoking does carry risks. Many leading medical and scientific organizations recognize second hand smoke as a cause of a range of life-threatening conditions. The health situation could be drastically improved if one of the risk factors - tobacco - was eliminated. People have a right to protect themselves from smoke inhalation. People shouldn’t have to inhale the ill-effects of other people’s smoking. The creation of smoke-free public places also improves air quality.
It is a snare. So why not try stopping it while we can right now by taking a stand that smoking should be banned in all public places and turn it into an action that would prove the best all round? Smoke is very bad. and the government should not authorize smoking in public places at all. Then there is the.
Scientists and health officials have been arguing the detrimental effects smoking has on our health for many years. Smoking can lead to serious complications including asthma, pancreas, lung and stomach cancer due to the large number of carcinogens (cancer causing chemicals) and other various substances added to it. It is a health hazard for both smokers and non-smokers and it is especially harmful to unborn babies. Although smokers claim that it helps them to relax and release stress, the negative aspects of the habit take over the positive. As it has been stressed by the scientists and experts, there are some very severe reasons of smoking but its crucial consequences should also be taken into consideration.