Smoking In 2006, a total of 2,426,264 deaths were reported in the United States. Over 443,000 of those deaths were as a result of smoking. Around 50,000 of those deaths were from secondhand smoke. Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. It can cause cancer of the lungs, larynx, oesophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas, and kidneys. 26.2 million men (23.5 percent) and 20.9 million women (18.1 percent) in the world are smokers. Some adults do not see the harm in smoking around their children since they are not the ones that are puffing the cigarette. However, this myth is very wrong. Second hand smoke increases the chance of getting a heart disease by up to 30%. Children can also develop severe bronchitis as well as asthma. Secondhand smoke can cause harm in many ways. In the United States alone, each year it is responsible for: an estimated 46,000 deaths from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers about 3,400 lung cancer deaths in non-smoking adults other breathing problems in non-smokers, including coughing, mucus, chest discomfort, and reduced lung function 150,000 to 300,000 lung infections (such as pneumonia and bronchitis) in children younger than 18 months of age, which result in 7,500 to 15,000 hospitalizations annually increases in the number and severity of asthma attacks in about 200,000 to 1 million children who have asthma more than 750,000 middle ear infections in children Of all deaths attributable to second hand smoking, 28% were among children. Between 70% and 90% of non-smokers in the American population, children and adults, are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. It is estimated that only 15% of cigarette smoke gets inhaled by the smoker. The remaining 85% lingers in the air for everyone to breathe. If a person spends more than two hours in a room where someone is smoking, the nonsmoker inhales the equivalent of four cigarettes. Tobacco use will kill one-billion people in the twenty-first century if smoking trends continue. From the information I have just provided, it is clear to see that smoking is a severe problem. The tobacco industry provides approximately 660,000 jobs. If tobacco were to be completely banned, hundreds of thousands of people would be left unemployed, shooting a big hole through the economy. About fifteen billion cigarettes are sold daily - or ten million every minute. US-based multinational Philip Morris - the world’s biggest cigarette company - was the world’s ninth largest advertiser in 1996, spending more than $3 billion. In 1997, the tobacco industry’s spending on advertising in the United States was about $15 million a day - $5.7 billion for the year. A tobacco ban would thus cause immense income losses for advertising companies. However, in this context, smoking-related diseases cost the United States $150 billion a year. There are two actions that must be completed if this tobacco terror is to be stopped. One, we must prevent the adolescent from becoming smokers. Two, we must educate smokers of the severeness of their actions and stop them from continuing their horrid addiction. When people watch movies, they sometimes see the “cool” characters smoke. They then get the idea that smoking is cool, and to be cool, they have to smoke. This is a large portion of the smoking advertisement, and stopping this would significantly slow smoking continuation. Even though this solution would cost a lot of money, anti-smoking advertising, and warning people of what will happen if they smoke would also help stop smoking. People who take heed to these warnings might then search for classes to help them abandon their addiction to the drug. Increasing the cost of cigarettes to a point where it is unaffordable to some people would force people to stop smoking. Taxing stores who want to sell cigarettes would also restrict the selling of cigarettes. Another idea that might work, is to make cigarettes out of some sort of healthy plant, like spinach. People smoke because it helps reduce stress. After a hard day at work, someone might go home and have a smoke. Searching for stress management alternatives could help switch people off smoking to a less harmful stress reliever. Awarding extra credit to high school students who take a class about smoking will significantly help educate people about the destruction smoking can cause to one’s body. Cancer is now one of the leading causes of deaths, and so far has no known cure. There are treatments that can help, but none that are sure to cure it. Perhaps tobacco, which is one of the main causes of cancer should be studied for helpful uses. For all we know, it might be the only true cure to the disease it causes. No one of these solutions will do the trick alone. I think that a few of them should be put into action while the true solution is found. I think there should be a smoking media ban, classes on smoking in school, and taxing on tobacco products. This will help reduce the amount of future smokers, and provide some time for scientists and government officials to solve this issue. Smoking is a very complicated issue, and there is no easy solution. There are those who gain from smoking, those who think they gain, those who do not, and those who suffer. Smoking began in shamanistic rituals long before records were kept, and has survived for thousands of years. Obviously, if smoking had any simple solution, it would be solved already, and the problem would be long forgotten. But since there is no simple solution, many debates are going on to try and solve this issue.