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Cigarettes Should be Illegal Essay

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One of the largest and most problematic health issues in our society is smoking. Smoking is currently the leading cause of death in our country, due to its harmful and addicting contents, such as nicotine and tobacco. Although millions die from it each year, smoking is the single most preventable cause of death as well. Without smoking, a tremendous amount of money and lives will be saved. I think that our country should ban smoking and the production of cigarettes in order to maintain a healthier nation, help save the environment, and prevent the almost 1000 deaths that they cause in fires each year.
My first topic is the health risks and problems that smoking tobacco causes. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable illness and …show more content…

In 2010, 87 percent of the world’s tobacco was grown in the developing world. A modern cigarette manufacturing machine can use up to 3.7 miles of paper an hour. Tobacco plants use more nutrients than many other crops, degrading the soil. Probably the most impact of a cigarette on the environment is the production of them. The land used to grow the crops could be put to better use by planting more trees or food production. Vast quantities of pesticides, fertilizer and herbicides are used on tobacco crops. Some crops require over a dozen applications of pesticides during the three-month growing period. Cigarette butts also do a lot of damage. You might think they were made of cotton, but actually they are often a form of plastic. The polymer acetate filters are comprised of thousands of fibers that can take up to 15-25 years to decompose. The residue from tobacco in the butts also releases toxins into the environment. Trillions of butts are discarded each year. Also discarded cigarettes are a major cause of forest fire in the USA, not to mention fatal house fires. Over 1000 Americans lose their lives a year from tobacco related fires.
Teen smoking is my third and final topic because it is the most shocking. Each day 3,000 children smoke their first cigarette and at least 3 million adolescents are smokers. 20 percent of American teens smoke. In the US today, roughly 6 million teens smoke,

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