by Alannah Elliott

Created on: November 11, 2009

Tobacco advertising should absolutely not be permitted. In an average year, over 400,000 people will die from tobacco usage, that's 20 percent of all US deaths http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30. Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Why would you support tobacco advertising when its very harmful to everyone around you. Everyone has been so used to seeing ads for tobacco throughout the years, then they got rid of all the advertising. Why would you want to bring the ads back, it just doesn't make sense to me. It was a good thing when they got rid of them, it would be a horrible decision to bring them back. The only kind of advertising that has to deal with tobacco should be ways to help people stop smoking, or there should be more advertising on the risks of smoking and the consequences that are involved.

The 1994 Surgeon General's Report concluded that cigarette advertising appears to increase young people's risk of smoking. (90% of current smokers began while still in high school). 36% of cigarette ads are in magazines that reach teens. Each day the tobacco industry loses 5,000 customers who die or quit tobacco use. As a result, by 1993, tobacco companies were spending over $6 billion annually to recruit new and current smokers http://www.smokehelp.org/html/ads_kill.html.

There are about 47 million smokers in the United States, we don't need any more people to die from tobacco. Tobacco also not only affects the user, but it also affects people who have to live around them, including babies. Some defenseless babies have to die because they're parents smoke around them all the time. The more advertising you have, the more likely people will want to smoke. A convincing body of evidence demonstrates that tobacco advertising plays an important part in encouraging non-smokers to begin smoking. Comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising and promotion can result in a considerable reduction of tobacco consumption on a national level http://www.globalink.org/en/advertising.shtml.

This is why I believe that tobacco advertising should not be permitted. It would be very harmful to smokers and non-smokers. There's lots of evidence to tell that its true. Tobacco advertising should be banned from television, billboards, magazines, the internet and other places where one might find the advertising. Tobacco advertising is one of the worst kinds of advertising out there because its pretty much telling everyone that its okay to smoke because others are doing it also.

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