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Printer-Friendly ModeBan nicotine, save lives
January 17, 2005 —
A burning question enters my mind when thinking of the future of everyone in the United States. Why is nicotine a drug that is legal in the United States? Are people and politicians blind to the fact that cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. besides heart disease? And what do you think is the deadliest form of cancer? You guessed it... lung cancer.
I'm sure we all at least know someone that has been affected by a lung cancer diagnosis of a loved one. And I will bet most of those who have died from this disease blame smoking, and wish that they had never started to smoke. The fact is that 87 percent of lung cancer cases are smoking related in the U.S., according to the American Lung Association.
I hate to keep throwing facts around, but I think it is necessary in order to wake people up who do not realize how serious of a problem lung cancer is.
In 2004 there were 160,440 deaths due to lung cancer which easily eclipsed the second leading cause of death by cancer last year, colon or rectal, which 56,730 people died of.
I know these are just numbers and it does not seem like a big deal on paper, but think of everyone that you know not being here tomorrow, and never coming back.
That is the number of people who die of lung cancer and then some.
And that does not include those who get it some time within the year or already have it and will die from it later in life.
Isn't it time that we save our loved ones and save money on healthcare in the process by attacking this issue at the heart of the problem? If cigarettes were made illegal in the U.S., it would prevent availability drastically on the market.
They would certainly not disappear, but it would prevent some people from smoking or make them smoke in moderation because of it.
Think of the drugs that are illegal right now such as Methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, heroin, LSD and PCP. I'm not going to advocate for these drugs in any shape or form, but I will say that fewer people die every year from these drugs then do from smoking. Some people may think that the reason those drugs are illegal is not because they harm the individual using them, but put at risk those around them.
Cigarette smoking still puts others at risk, as it is estimated that 53,000 people have died from second hand smoke. It makes no sense and seems illogical that drugs that do less harm on a whole to the country are illegal while the top killer is not.
These facts are hard to ignore or brush off, but many people do because of how much they are hooked to the drug. People need to free themselves from addiction or realize that they could leave their loved ones in a world of hurt because of their decision not to.
As I said, I believe the best way to do this and produce results is for the U.S. government to making smoking illegal. This would be a beginning of a long effort to cut these deaths drastically. It would cut some profit out of some people's pockets, but let me leave you by asking one question.
Which is more important - money, or life?