Smoking is considered to be one of the most dangerous problems of every nation since in many cases it leads to fourteen different types of cancer, including pancreatic, renal, bladder, mouth, stomach, liver and cervical cancer. Being the single biggest cause of cancer in the world, smoking causes about 70,000 deaths every year. Smoking is also linked to at least eight other serious medical conditions, including heart attacks, strokes, emphysema and cataracts. It can also lead to reduced fertility and lower infant birth weight.
Smoking is more dangerous s active smoking leading to such diseases as cancer. Among numerous bad habits of modern society smoking in public places seems to be of the greatest importance. Not only does it affect the person who smokes, but also those who are around him. Many people argue about the appropriate definition of smoking, whether it is a disease or just a bad habit. Considering the peculiarities of a habit and of a disease, smoking can be considered as a habit rather than a disease. Among signifiers of a bad habit, it should be pointed out that a bad habit can be controlled by willpower, it can be prevented, and it can be cured (Yach and Hirschhorn 90).
Passive smoking violates rights of those people who do not smoke. Considering the first element, which one of the most important out of the three, willpower is a key to get rid of such a bad habit as smoking, which is very difficult to give up. If a person has a strong determination to quit smoking, he will have to endure considerably a short period of time of physical discomfort. One of the most important part of quitting, is that that is doesn’t require medical help, that is to say, a person is not likely to suffer a procedure that is risky to health and life. In comparison to alcoholism or drug addiction, where medical help is essential to save life of a person who needs a certain amount of an alcohol or drug substance in has blood to survive, the lack of nicotine in blood produces just a physical discomfort that is not dangerous for health and can be handled with the help of willpower. Regarding the second aspect of a bad habit, prevention, smoking can be prevented in early childhood with the help of proper education and social norms. Many people start smoking when they are teenagers just to prove they are adults in companies. If the society was able to produce a negative impression of this bad habit, so that it doesn’t seem to be sign of being an adult, it would be easier to prevent many children from smoking (Lemstra et al 62).
Smoking in public places should be banned because there are a lot of people who try to escape this bad habit but active smoking of others assists smoking. The aspect of a bad habit is a cure for it. Smoking can be cured in many different ways. There are many different techniques, starting from a nicotine plaster and ending with special clinics and communities helping people to get rid of this problem. If a person wants to quit, he or she has various options to help him or her to solve this problem. Smoking is a bad habit that can be easily quitted. Although there is an addiction to smoking, the lack of nicotine is not dangerous to the life of a smoker and can be handled without medical intervention. The most important aspect of this bad habit, which actually makes a habit, is that it can be quitted with the help of willpower. Moreover, it can be prevented with alteration of attitude towards smoking and it can be cured in many different ways (Sander and Zun 43).
Smoking in public places should not be banned because despite widespread public awareness of the multiple health risks associated with smoking, one out of every four girls under age 18 is a smoker and more than 25 million American women smoke. Whereas the last two decades have seen an overall decrease in smoking prevalence, the rate of smoking has declined much more slowly among women than among men. If current trends continue, smoking rates of women will overtake those of men by the year 2000. Smoking rates are highest, approaching 30%, among women of reproductive age (18–44 years). Rates of smoking are particularly high among young White women with a high school education or less and low income. Cessation rates are lower among African American women (30% have quit) compared to White women (43% have quit). Minority and young women who have low rates of self-initiated cessation are also underrepresented in formal smoking cessation programs. A greater proportion of women than men are pre-contemplators, that is, not considering quitting smoking within 6 months and have lower self-confidence that they could quit if they were to try. The debate continues regarding whether or not women are less likely to be successful at quitting when they try than men, with some evidence suggesting that women are more likely than men to relapse and others indicating no gender differences) (Sander and Zun 43).
In sum, prohibition of smoking in public places can be seen as an intervention The intervention integrated accepted cognitive and behavioral coping strategies for quitting smoking, changing eating behaviors, and developing a walking program. against this habit. Smoking can be fought against with the help of all the points mentioned above. Thus, it is a bad habit which can be easily refused if an individual possessing it has a strong decision to quit. Moreover, it can be cured in many different ways, and it can be prevented by education and other social norms.
Works Cited
Lemstra, Mark, Neudorf, Cory, Opondo, Johnmark. “Implications of a Public Smoking Ban” Canadian Journal of Public Health 99 (1), 62.
Sander L. and Xhou Zun. Smoke: A Globa lHistory of Smoking. Reaktion Books; illustrated edition edition, 2004.
Yach , Derek, Hirschhorn, Norbert. “The Global Fight for Smoke-free Public Places”. Journal of Public Health Policy 26 (1), 90.