Smoking Should Be Banned in All Public Places

The air that kills

Smoking is like an army of knights attacking the castle with swords that are the toxins. The lungs are the castle walls. The knights’ attack and attack until one day, the lungs just give in to the attack. The walls start to break and crumble down. The castle falls and the knights have won the battle. This is what happens when someone smokes. Not only is the smoke toxic to the user but it is also just as toxic to a nonuser. Smoking should be banned in all public places such as restaurants and parks.

Smoking should be banned because smoking can kill someone prematurely since the air is toxic. Tobacco smoke is "…a toxic air contaminant” (Kaufman), and is dangerous pollutant that is able to kill you. The smoke is as toxic as the pollutants from car exhaust and smoke stacks. Some of the toxins in cigarettes are ammonia, arsenic, lead, and turpentine. These toxic chemicals are what people are putting into their bodies when they smoke. When this smoke is drawn into the lungs, the body has absolutely no chance to defend itself from these chemicals.

The smoke is not just lethal to the smoker but also “…was contributing to their deaths from lung cancer” (Kaufman). Second hand smoke doesn't have to be just from walking past a smoker on the street. Second hand smoking can be from any air system that intakes air from where a smoker is and having the outtake near any nonsmoker. Even when walking past a smoker when entering or exiting a building, is a way to have second hand smoking.

Smoking affects the population in many ways. "An estimated 443,000 adults nationwide die from smoking related illnesses each year"(Landgraf). Children are susceptible to the effects of secondhand smoke such as "…increased rates of low birth weight, infant mortality, respiratory infections, asthma, and modest impairments of cognitive development" because they are growing and developing."( Sobol). Children exposed to secondhand smoke have increased risks of sudden infant...