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Should Cigarettes Be Banned in the U.S.?

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Should Cigarettes Be Banned in the U.S.? Tobacco has been around in the world for over 2.5 million years. It was not until a few hundred years ago when the tobacco industry decided to put these crops into use and conjure up tobacco products for the community. A popular tobacco product in society is cigarettes, as they are cheap and simple to use. As long as one is over eighteen, acquiring cigarettes is a straightforward process for a reasonable price, albeit the sin tax. It was not until recently when cigarettes became widely controversial due to the plant containing nicotine, an addictive drug to the body. Aside from containing nicotine and other hazardous chemicals to the body, cigarettes also cause a whole host of health implications …show more content…

For example, obesity affects approximately one-third of the population in the U.S. Obesity also causes many health implications such as heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and so on, similar to cigarettes. Foods that cause obesity could also contain addictive ingredients such as MSG, sugar, fat, and salt. These foods can be wrapped into one category: junk food. Since junk food causes health implications and hold addictive traits, then by logic, junk food must also be banned. This is not the case, however. Cigarettes indeed are a major factor in causing health complications to people. However, this is common knowledge everyone is aware of. It does not give people the rights to strip away cigarettes only because it causes cancer. Since junk food is a major factor to obesity, it does not mean junk food should be banned. In both situations, people free willingly decide to smoke or consume junk food. Another reason people would want to ban cigarettes is the effects of second hand smoking and the dangers. According to the University of Minnesota, there are two types of smoke emitted from cigarettes: mainstream and sidestream smoke. Mainstream smoke is the type that is exhaled by smokers. Sidestream smoke is the one burning off at the end of a cigarette. The type that second hand smoking recipients

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