With these new bans in place, the price of cigarettes went up. With the price hike, consumers and health officials realized that when the price of cigarettes went up, people had less of a tendency to buy and smoke them, thereby creating a healthier stigma. In 1972, people first realized smoking as an environmental problem. Health officials found out that many chemicals and compounds are harmful, and the unknown ones do much of the damage. In 1986, the harms of smokeless tobacco were also recognized. Companies were required to put hazards on smokeless tobacco packs. Most people thought that it was less dangerous but their thoughts then began to change. Then in 1973, Arizona became the first state to restrict smoking in public places as a sign that they were becoming aware of the hazards of tobacco. All these new regulations and laws had the country topsy-turvy with information that they were completely unaware about before. .
Like I stated before, 42.2 million people are current smokers in America today. These smokers, as other citizens, believe they have the personal and social right to smoke wherever they want, and whenever they want. Personally I believe that is wrong and they need to have certain limits in order to protect the wellbeing of the general population. Legally, there are many rules and regulations in store for these smokers. Because of the nature of the activity, many officials believe this habit should not publicly displayed at all times. Exposure from secondhand smoke kills up to 50000 nonsmokers a year in the United States. In turn, smoking is not a specially protected right in the Constitution. The argument also exists that smokers should be an equally protected group under legal boundaries. But equal protection clauses apply to groups such as minorities, genders, marriages, and education limits. Smokers as a group have nothing to offer and their cause is only worsening the system not bettering it.
