Smoking, whether it is a pipe or a cigarette, is sadly a very common human activity.1 billion people worldwide are current smokers, and 42.2 million of those smokers come from the United States. That means that about 19% of our population uses tobacco (Windom and Mason 472). That is a staggering number because of the amount of negativity associated with smoking, both socially and physically. It is also unfortunate because smoking is now the number one preventable cause of death in the United States. It is a danger on so many levels and to so many people other than the smoker his or herself. Because of the statistics surrounding smoking, much has been done over the past few decades to try and limit this unacceptable habit. On a financial level, smoking costs the country about $170 billion a year in insurance money and lost productivity costs (Whelan 90).Advertising, education in schools, health programs, regulations, and price hikes all have tried to and are still trying to eradicate smoking. .
Most commonly, the whole country and the individual states have enacted many regulations and laws that limit or ban smoking in many places. This is done to create a more positive environment for everyone. On the other hand, smokers tend to oppose the legislation surrounding smoking. The question here is this: do smokers have a right to smoke wherever they desire? And my personal answer to that is no, smokers do not have the right to smoke wherever they want. The obvious reason would be that there is a lot of new legislation in the U.S. regarding this issue, which makes it illegal anyways. But on a more personal note, I think smoking is harmful all around. As a smoker it slowly kills a person. Smokers do not only harm themselves but harms their kids to come. Smokers, especially pregnant women, are basically threatening the lives of their infants and unborn babies while smoking. If an adult body cannot handle the effects of smoking, how can something so small and vulnerable be forced to deal with that.
