Rogerian Argument & Ban on Smoking in Public Places

Cigarette smoking has serious health problems both to the first-hand and second-hand smokers. Individuals are faced with the risk of contracting lung cancer, high blood pressure and cataracts among other diseases. As the smoker inhales the smoke, it gets into the lungs directly and other systems of the body. Within some period of time, the inhaled smoke causes lung cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke among other diseases. Both the first-hand and second-hand smokers have exposure to these diseases. Temporary or prolonged exposure can result into the health problems.

Research shows that the chemicals in the cigarettes are very harmful to smokers. There are at least 400 toxic substances and around 4000 chemical compounds in cigarettes. The heat produced during smoking breaks down tobacco into harmful toxins. The tip burns at 700ºc while the core at 60ºc. The products released are very harmful to health. Tar, which is a carcinogen, causes cancer. Nicotine leads to increased cholesterol levels in the body. The carbon monoxide results into a reduction of the oxygen levels in the respiratory tract and the entire body.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) is caused by the gas components and particulate phases. COPD are a collection of conditions that is characterized by the blockage of the airflow hence difficulty in breathing. Some of the conditions include chronic bronchitis which is characterized by coughing for 3 months and accompanied with mucus. Emphysema is the blockage of the air sacs (alveoli) hence the difficulty in breathing. COPD begins when the functions of the heart declines. This is always between the age of 35 and 45. The final stage if marked by the death of the smoker. The prevalence of cancer among the smokers is higher than the non-smokers. The cancers include throat cancer, lung cancer, bladder cancer, cervical cancer, cancer of the kidney and mouth cancer. These are rarely found among the non-smokers.

Smoking reduces the level of fertility. The chemicals narrow the blood vessels that take blood to the reproductive organs. This leads to the organs becoming dysfunctional hence impotence. Mothers that smoke while pregnant give birth to children with low weight and prematurely. Smoking results into bad breath and swollen gums with tainted teeth. Women who smoke have more exposure to hip fracture than those who don’t smoke. Smoking also worsens the conditions of asthma and results into body resistance in taking up the asthma drugs. The adverse effects on health due to smoking result into death. In the U.S, smoking accounts for 443,000 or one out of every five dying within one year. More deaths are caused by tobacco than by HI/AIDS, suicides, illegal drug use, alcohol use and road accidents, all combined in U.S.

Cigarettes smoking in public should be banned. There are several side effects of permitting smoking in public:

Health Effects to the Secondhand Smoker

The smoke usually spill over to the people around the smoker at the time of smoking. The inhaled smoke cause the health issues to the secondhand smoke just like the first-hand smoke. The effects can be tangible, consistent and at time permanent. Whether the exposure is short-term or long-term, the effects of the smoke on health are not reduced. It is a disgrace to the secondhand smoke since they never had the intentions of smoking. Some of the diseases are very expensive to treat. Diseases like cancer are expensive to manage and they are also fatal.

Odor Effects

The odor from the smoke is irritating to the breathers around. This is very annoying especially to non-smokers. People have breathing difficulties in places that are crowded with minimal or no ventilations. Some people can even faint due to the smoke. The smoke causes nausea among some people. The odor of the smoke is annoying more because it lingers on long after detaching from a smoker. The bad smell sticks on clothing and hair. This form of displeasure is much stronger than that by loud music or body odor. The latter odor fades easily soon after detaching from the smoker. Bars and restaurants that allowing smoking do great harm to other clients. The rooms are always very stuffy and quiet unbearable to sit in due to the smell. People from such place have their clothes and hair smell smoke. They cannot even enjoy their meals because of the destructive smoke from the table of a neighbor.

Workplace: Employees

Employees who are non-smokers find it quite difficult to work in places where smoking is allowed. The smoke causes discomfort in the workplace and breathing difficulties. More dangerous than all, the smoke results into health issues. The employees will have to tolerate the smoke since they need an income to sustain their families. It is therefore important for the employer to take into account such issues

Litter Issues

The butts from the cigarettes account for a larger percentage of the litter within the environment. Most of the people who smoke outside their cars and houses pollute the environment by throwing the butts and the packages or wrappers anyhow. This interferes with the aesthetic of a location. The litter from the cigarettes makes a place to look ugly and unkempt. The owners of the buildings usually have a rough time in cleaning up their compounds. If smoking is controlled to a specific place, it becomes easier to control the litter within the place. Therefore, banning public smoking will help keep the environments tidy.

In public places, more people are exposed to the smoke from the cigarettes. Both the young and the old stand a high chance of contracting diseases. My position, therefore, differs from those who say that smoking should not be banned at any instance. I stand for the opinion that smoking should be banned from public places. This does not mean that smoking should be banned from private places like homes and cars. If someone smokes in a private place, he or she only disturbs the comfort of his household, which is also part of his property. Therefore, no interference should be made on the private smoking places. However, there is need to control what the general public consumes since the population is made up of different people with different preferences. If it is not in the interest of many to have smoke in the public, then we should consider that.

Conclusion

Public smoking in public places should be banned since it poses health risks to many people including the non-smokers, who find the effects irritating and hazardous. The costs of such effects are very expensive. It is painful to see non-smokers struggling to treat diseases that are caused by smoke that do not even benefit them. It is therefore important to control the pollution in the public places by confining the smokers to very restricted places.