Smoking Persuasive Essay

A smoker with a pack of cigarettes is like a teenage girl with a cell phone. They both never leave anywhere without it. Smoking related diseases cause approximately 440, 000 American deaths each year. Each day, three thousand children smoke their first cigarette. It is killing people and polluting the earth which doesn’t serve a positive purpose in any way. It is something that millions around the world have taken up and are unable to stop. Smoking is such a bad habit and does not benefit anyone but tobacco companies. It is a complete money scamming business yet people are aware but continue to buy them every day. Back then, smoking was considered to be cool, sexy, and healthy for you. When scientists discovered that it was the complete opposite of healthy and that it was actually killing you, a lot of people stopped. Tobacco companies were probably a little worried but lucky for them most people were already addicted. In 1970, President Nixon signed the law that placed warning labels on smokes and banned television advertisements. Banning smoking commercials doesn’t even really affect the cigarette companies that much. Most advertising these days is done by actual people smoking cigarettes and word of mouth. When people litter cigarette filters and packs it also acts as an advertisement. Tobacco companies don’t really have to do much advertising anymore. Not only does smoking affect humans but it also affects the environment. Cigarettes contain approximately 4000 chemicals. Those chemicals are being released into our air and being put on the ground. Cigarette buds that are being thrown onto the street are getting into our rivers and lakes and poisoning our water. When they are thrown onto grass and soil they poison our plants. Animals then eat the plants and we eat those animals. It is a cycle that is getting everyone sick. The production of cigarettes is also bad for the environment. Companies waste valuable soil to grow their tobacco. That soil could be used for growing crops or producing food for third world countries. These plants need to be sprayed by chemicals and pesticides in order to maintain a proper growth. It takes one tree to produce the packaging for three hundred cigarettes. Energy and water is also being used in the production of cigarettes which we need to save. Teenagers are now being exposed to smoking at an earlier age these days. It primarily begins at the age of 16 and most first time smoker’s start before their high school graduation. Children who have parents that smoke are more likely to take up the bad habit. Most teens that start smoking early will have a harder time quitting and will have more health issues than someone that begins smoking at the age of 21. More than 90% of smokers started when they were teenagers. As an ex smoker, I can agree that smoking can be addictive. I personally have never been addicted to it but I know that it also isn’t easy to stop. I believe that most people get addicted to it because they need something to inhale. Companies have tried to make nicotine inhalers but I personally don’t think that they would be as satisfying as having a cigarette. If there was a natural, legal, healthy herb that didn’t have chemicals, and were to have the same effects as cigarettes, I’m sure people would be smoking it. In conclusion, smoking is definitely not a habit that people should take up. The list of pros does not even come close to the cons when it comes to smoking. It is just a bad habit that a lot of people take up these days and can’t stop. It is killing humans and animals as well as the environment. Every time someone flicks the ash off their smoke it looks almost as if the cigarette is nodding its head up and down telling you that it’s ok to smoke. The tobacco industry is almost like a big hit man that is just murdering everyone. People that don’t even smoke are being killed because of it. It is a money making business that needs to be stopped before everyone suffers.