Tobacco Essay

Tobacco is a powerful plant that has become extraordinarily affluent and in demand worldwide. It has been one of the most commonly used drugs throughout the past few centuries and it has a very long history. It dates back to the time of the Native Americans, but became increasingly popular when the Europeans arrived to America. At the time, it became very popular for trading. People traded spices, silk, food, and more, in exchange for tobacco. There are more than 70 different strains of tobacco. There are also numerous ways for one to consume tobacco including cigars, cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and flavored tobacco. Although not everyone consumes tobacco, tobacco affects everybody. Tobacco has drastic effects on the world and these effects impact everyone. Most importantly, tobacco influences our health drastically. There is a notable comparison between a person who does not smoke tobacco and a person who does. Tobacco also impacts everything around us. It drastically impacts our economy and our surrounding environments.

Tobacco is a plant that has been artificially and naturally selected, meaning it has been altered to suit people’s desires. Through natural selection, the most potent tobacco plants have survived the toughest environments throughout the world to keep their line of generation intact. In regards to artificial selection, humans have throughout history selectively bred different types of tobacco plants in order to evaluate whether a more stronger and effective type of tobacco can result from it. Furthermore, tobacco also effects our environment, such as littering cigarette butts on the floor, to our nutritional health, and towards our economy. Tobacco brings an anthropological consequence, to understand how past c...

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...large sums of money due to tobacco smoking workers who missed valuable work time because of their health issues concerning tobacco. Employers have to pay more for smoker’s heath care insurance. Additionally, in only one year, California nearly lost 8.5 billion dollars of productivity due to early death or illness of smoking tobacco. In 2004, the state of California spent $9.6 billion in health care expenses as a result of smoking tobacco, and $2.9 million on Medicaid/Medi-Cal.

Environmentally, tobacco has significant costs for clean up- costs and precautions taken by the states. According to the California Department of Transportation, a major contributor towards storm drain garbage is cigarette waste. Over $41 million is spent by California public agencies and taxpayers to clean up litter off the streets, and cigarette waste is one third of that waste.