The Negative Effects of Tobacco on Health, The Environment, and The Younger Generation

As a society, there are hundreds of things that we should be worried about. Banning plastic because it is harming for our environment. It seems like the last thing we worry about is what we are putting in our bodies. Tobacco is a drug that contains nicotine. It can be found in products such as cigars, cigarettes, and e-cigarettes, and is highly addictive. The negative effects of tobacco use impact not only people, but the environment as well. The sale and production of tobacco products should be made illegal because it will help the environment, reduce health problems, and will protect younger generations.

Tobacco is not mainly known for its negative effects on the environment. All over the world millions if not billions of tobacco products are being consumed yearly. Most of the cigarettes consumed end up being littered. According to Jacopo Prisco, “Tobacco litter is the most common type of litter by count worldwide.” When cigarette buds are littered, and end up on the road they are often picked up by the wind. The wind picks up the buds and often the cigarette buds end up in the ocean and in surrounding areas such as the forest. Buds contain toxic waste which can be harmful to our water, soil, ocean life, and wildlife. Not to mention that the tobacco plant uses an immense amount of resources just for its packaging and the components that make up the cigarette itself. Most of the tobacco farms are located in third world countries. The chemicals in tobacco not only harm the planet but they also harm the people who are working with the crops such as the farmers. The tobacco plant has been quite known for being a “monocrop,” which means that “it does not rotate with crops in a particular field or area.”. This is especially harmful to soil because this means that it can lead to soil with less nutrients which leaves the soil weak and unable to produce healthy crops.

The main reason to ban the production of tobacco products would be because of the health problems that it causes to humans who not only smoke but also those who don’t smoke. According to Jacopo Prisco, “… adding to the well-known costs to global health, which translate to a yearly loss of $1.4 trillion in health-care expenses and lost productivity. The side effects of tobacco are life threatening. The major cause lung cancer is consuming tobacco products. In an article written by Jacopo Prisco he stated that, “Tobacco smoke contains about 4,000 chemicals, at least 250 of which are known to be harmful.” Smoking or consuming cigarette is responsible for hundreds or even thousands of deaths annually. However, smoking does not only effect the person who consumes tobacco products. People have been known to develop problems due to second hand smoke. Based on the article written by Prisco, “secondhand smoke leads close to 1 million deaths annually, 28% of them children.”

As of recent years, the e-cigarette trend has had a rise not only among adults but especially among teens. Recently, lots of companies such as Juul and Puff have released flavors that while are not directly targeted for teens have released many flavors that could seem intriguing to teens, such as cotton candy. It seems that as of recent years the advertisements for smoking has reduced causing teens to be less aware of the consequences that come along with smoking.

I feel as though banning tobacco products all together could greatly improve society. However, ads about the dangers of consuming tobacco products have been out for years since people discovered the dangers that are included with consuming tobacco. It seems that will all this information people still decide to smoke.

Tobacco becoming illegal would impact not only the environment and our health but also help the younger generations. Banning tobacco products will prevent thousands of deaths around the world, it will reduce the amount of health problems drastically. It will also help reduce fires and also reduce the amount of carbon footprint we are currently producing. Overall putting restrictions on the sale and production of tobacco would make the world safer and healthier for everyone, whether they smoke or not.