I screwed up on my last debate so I want to make it up by starting a HUGE debate. First I'll give my word on smoking and then some scientifical and political quotes. Now some info on smoking. About a third of the male adult global population smokes. Smoking related-diseases kill one in 10 adults globally, or cause four million deaths. By 2030, if current trends continue, smoking will kill one in six people. Every eight seconds, someone dies from tobacco use. Smoking is on the rise in the developing world but falling in developed nations. Among Americans, smoking rates shrunk by nearly half in three decades (from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s), falling to 23% of adults by 1997. In the developing world, tobacco consumption is rising by 3.4% per year. About 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily - or 10 million every minute. About 12 times more British people have died from smoking than from World War II. Cigarettes cause more than one in five American deaths. Among WHO Regions, the Western Pacific Region* - which covers East Asia and the Pacific - has the highest smoking rate, with nearly two-thirds of men smoking. About one in three cigarettes are consumed in the Western Pacific Region. The tobacco market is controlled by just a few corporations - namely American, British and Japanese multinational conglomerates. Youth Among young teens (aged 13 to 15), about one in five smokes worldwide. Between 80,000 and 100,000 children worldwide start smoking every day - roughly half of whom live in Asia. Evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years. Peer-reviewed studies show teenagers are heavily influenced by tobacco advertising. About a quarter of youth alive in the Western Pacific Region will die from smoking. Health Half of long-term smokers will die from tobacco. Every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average - about the time taken to smoke it. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. It can cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, oesophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys. More than 4,000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals have been found in tobacco smoke. One British survey found that nearly 99% of women did not know of the link between smoking and cervical cancer. One survey found that 60% of Chinese adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer while 96% were unaware it can cause heart disease. At least a quarter of all deaths from heart diseases and about three-quarters of world's chronic bronchitis are related to smoking. Smoking-related diseases cost the United States more than $150 billion a year. Advertising US-based multinational Philip Morris - the world's biggest cigarette company - was the world's ninth largest advertiser in 1996, spending more than $3 billion. A survey a few years ago found that nearly 80% of American advertising executives from top agencies believed cigarette advertising does make smoking more appealing or socially acceptable to children. Through advertising, tobacco firms try to link smoking with athletic prowess, sexual attractiveness, success, adult sophistication, adventure and self-fulfilment. A survey in the UK found about half of smokers think that smoking "can't really be all that dangerous, or the Government wouldn't let cigarettes be advertised". A 1998 survey found that tobacco companies were among the top 10 advertisers in 18 out of 66 countries surveyed. In Asia, tobacco companies are among the top 10 advertisers in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines. In Russia, according to press reports, foreign tobacco companies are the largest advertisers, accounting for as much as 40% of all TV and radio advertising. In 1997, the tobacco industry's spending on advertising in the United States was about $15 million a day ($5.7 billion for the year). The tobacco industry has changed the way it advertises in the last 30 years. Now, only 10% of advertising expenditure goes to print and outdoor advertisements, while more than half goes to promotional allowances and items, such as t-shirts for young people or lighters and key rings. After the entry of foreign multinational tobacco firms into Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, youth and female smoking rose significantly.
Yes, a lot of people smoke. Yes, its horrible for you. yes, , and its hard to fight that nicotine addiction. Yes, it's filled with thousands of chemicals. But who cares? Really, its their own choice to smoke. Believe me, I know from experience. Peer pressure does sometimes come in, and it's sad to see, but why should someone do something just to make themselves fit in? But once again, it's their own choice to smoke, not yours.
True its their choice but if there was a law made that smoking is illegal they wouldn't have a choice.
As hard as that nicotine addiction may seem, I know from experience that as long as you want to stop doing something, you can. Anything can be changed with a little self control. Smoking is slowly becoming illegal in most public places, and will soon be disclosed to private homes only (hopefully). It's obvious that it's a bad thing to do; it harms yourself, others, and damages the environment ever so slightly with pollution, so as strongly as smokers want it, even they should know it's a bad choice.
My Grandpa, and my Uncle both used to be smokers. The doctor told my grandpa ( at around 50 years, he's now 74, i think), that if he didn't stop smoking: he'd die. He stopped, problem solved. My uncle quit too, but he never had as bad problems s my grandpa did. I agree 100%
I know smoking is bad, but if people want to do it and it has no major harmful effect on others, then so be it. I'm not a big fan of the government restricting on some rights (yeah go ahead eat me alive on that one)
Which is why I say its fine if they ban it from places where it can be harmful to others (restaurants-in ohio smoking is banned in em). But if its in private homes or outdoor places, I see no problem.
I have to say that sounds a little far fetched. I just think that the government doesn't need to control everything. People do lots of other things that you can be killed with. 119 people die every day in car crashes, so do you suggest we don't have cars (I would cite something, but I am in a driver's ed class right now and I know its a fact). Yes, cars are a necessity, but that's just one example. Let me just put it this way, if the government took away many things that people die from, we wouldn't have much left.
That's not far fetched at all, we share the same atmosphere do we not? For one, cars are not a necessity at all; look at Spain. The thing is, cars aren't proven to be deadly, the people driving them when making mistakes are. Cigarettes kill no matter how they are used.
This forum is awome!!! Also thats very true.You can die from anything.Any shpae way or form.Even at your computer you can die.Theres sooooo many possibilites of someone dieing from little things that its just insane.
You're taking his words out of context; you can't die because of a computer, but you can die whilst using one, whether it be from heart attack, gunshot, or any other possible situation.
I know.Smoking kills people purposely from their own will.But you can die form a computer. Spill water on it get elictrictued,Chair your sitting on breaks and you smash your head into it,the computer exploding.I know I took it out of text but if the goverment does take away things that we can die from we wouldn't have the same lives.
On the atmosphere take, then cars should be banned also. They harm the atmosphere which in turn harms people. Some don't have enough money to drive but are still forced with the consequences that pollution that it causes. Yes the people are, but that still makes them just as deadly (well- not exactly from here) compared to from here) edit as I accidently pressed post: But still, most people choose both deaths, as most car crashes are from drunk driving or just plain not wearing a seat belt.
Wow that many people die from smoking.I thought thousands not hundred thousands. It truly is suicide in a pack.
yeah, I still think it is the dumbest thing someone could do, but I just don't think the government holds that right. If someone wants to quit because they don't want to die, then that's up to them, not the government. edit: wow I didn't turn my sig off at all in this thread.