by John Finken

Created on: June 23, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

There's one thing that every human being is born with: common sense. But for some reason, there has lately been a major flaw in society's 'common sense' instinct. Our common sense tells us not to jump off of our roofs, but rather climb down a ladder, because what would happen if our bones couldn't take the impact?. It tells us not to look down the barrel of a gun, because what would happen if it went off? But why then, do millions of people smoke every day in America alone? You will never find a man or woman who truly believes that smoking is good for their health, or that it doesn't affect their health in any way.

We all know that cigarettes are filled with tobacco and toxins, some of which are used to kill rats. There's an old saying, The best way to fight addiction is denial. Many smokers have proved this correct. Why won't all people who are addicted to cigarettes or even marijuana admit that it's a terrible thing to be addicted to? I do believe that smoking should be made illegal because it doesn't benefit anybody except the mass-murderer executives at companies such as Camel and Marlboro.

Here is a small list of ingredients in cigarettes. All of the following are carcinogens (cancer causers) and are found in cigarettes: Nitrosamines, crysenes, cadmium, benzopyrene, polonium 210, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, dibenz acidine, B-napthylamine, urethane, nitrosonornicotine, and toluidine. And there's plenty more disgusting chemicals, such as arsenic, methane, and cyanide.

Smokers ruining their lungs and bodies in general isn't my major issue, actually. I believe that smoking should be make illegal for the generations to come. If a pregnant woman smokes, she has the potential to disable her child either mentally or physically. And if she has been smoking for years already and is addicted, it isn't likely that she is instantly going to quit when she learns of her pregnancy. Many children are affected by this, and I am personally friends with one of these children. But let's say the pregnant mother gets lucky, and by some act of God, her baby is born in perfect condition. The mother continues to smoke, say, 8 cigarettes per day for the next six years. Let's also say that the child is present for only 2 of those cigarettes every day. That means that by the time the child is six years old, he/she is forced to inhale the smoke of 4380 or so cigarettes that his/her selfish mother smoked. Don't tell me that won't have a severe effect on the helpless child. Isn't that enough reason to make smoking illegal?

Now you see that not only are you hurting yourself in ways you will only realize on your deathbed. You are hurting the ones you love, and say you would do anything to protect. If smoking were made illegal a century ago, millions of grandparents would still be alive today. If we make it illegal today, millions of parents will live to see their grandchildren. And if we make it illegal a century from now, we would lose millions more lives that could have been saved, had we made it illegal today.

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