Cigarette Smoking Should Not Be Banned
It is no surprise that cigarettes are damaging to one’s health. The slender sticks often come with a blaring warning on the box. People who smoke cigarettes do it for the effects it has on their minds and bodies. However, while harmful, there is no reason why cigarette smoking should be banned.
Advocates of cigarette banning point to the harmful effects cigarettes have on people and the unconsenting people around them through passive smoking. While passive smoking is a serious problem, it can effectively be dealt with by banning smoking in public places. As for the participating individual’s risk to health, people who smoke cigarettes are well aware of its adverse effects. If they choose to smoke regardless, it is their decision, one that should not be taken away solely for it can cause harm.
It is undeniable that nicotine has a positive effect on one’s mood. Several people smoke to obtain the stress alleviating benefits of nicotine found in cigarettes. In a world as competitive as this one, it is easy to let work affect one’s mental wellbeing. If a cigarette is what it takes for an individual to counter this stress, then they should be allowed to do so without any legal ramifications. As damaging to one’s body as cigarettes are, in no way do they affect an individual’s capacity to think or their fine motor skills. Cigarettes are one among thousands of carcinogens on the market today. If we were to ban every carcinogen, we would be left with empty shelves in stores.
The addictive nature of cigarettes is such that one would face a difficult time trying to kick the habit. Nonetheless, it does not warrant banning them. Every second product out there is addictive and harmful. Cereals and sodas are loaded with sugars and processed foods contain copious amounts of MSG. Here the solution is not to ban said products but for the individual to weigh the benefits versus the negative effects of whatever they purchase.
Ultimately, people who buy cigarettes in the majority of cases are adults who are capable of weighing the harms and benefits of what they choose to smoke. What an individual chooses to put in their body should be left in their own hands (unless the substance in question could pose extremely severe negative effects) Cigarettes offer enough benefits to be sold legally. To take away one’s choice to smoke these might possibly cause more harm than good from the withdrawal effects.
