Final+Draft

4-13-10 Persuasive Essay**
 * Lizzie Jeon

Many people, including me, immediately feels disgusted whenever they see a plume of smoke rising from one glowing end of a cigarette or when they detect the bitter, unhealthy scent of cigarette smoke. Smokers might have their individual reasons for why they smoke, such as to relieve their daily stress. But whatever the reason, it is not acceptable for them to smoke in the public, especially in places where there are more non-smokers than smokers. Smoking should not be permitted in the public because it damages both the smokers and the non-smokers’ health, worsens environmental pollution, and shows a bad influence to children. As you probably already know, smoking is known for its danger to our health. Did you know that a cigarette holds many deadly poisons such as nicotine and arsenic, which is used in rat poison? Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, small amounts of those toxins get into your blood through your lungs. If you take in too much of those bad stuff, it can lead you easily to serious health issues. Smoking makes you ooze with body odor, give you early wrinkles, stains your teeth, and gives you really bad breath. That’s not all: It can go even worse and give you a lung cancer. Lung cancer is responsible for 31% of all deaths from cancer, and 90% of these could have been prevented if people didn’t smoke cigarettes. You can save a life by just giving up a pack of cigarettes. The poison from cigarettes also affects the already badly damaged environment. Many people might not know this fact but when the smoke is released into the air, it pollutes the atmosphere. The pollution also takes a huge part in the destruction of the land we live on and the water we drink. Every day, millions of cigarette butts are scattered all over the ground. In fact, these cigarette butts are half of the waste that is collected from a certain statewide cleanup. That’s not all; Some cigarette butts are strewn in places such as rivers and lakes where fishes and animals eat them by mistake and often die from it. It will be a short time before both water and ground are polluted with chemicals and toxic. Just make sure, before you decide wether to smoke, that you know what you are doing to yourself and to the world you are living in. Don’t forget about the children that also take in the unhealthy smoke. Kindergarten and nursery school is the perfect time to get influence from the people surrounding them. Some kids get their influence from the animations they watch most of the time. But other kids get their influence from adults. If you are smoking in public and a little kid sees you, he might think it is something that he should do. This leads to underage smoking, which also leads to harmful death. There are already a lot of teenagers drinking alcohol and smoking packs of cigarettes. Did you know that 90% of current adult smokers started before the age of 18? Teens might see smoking as a “cool thing” to do but when they know the side effects of smoking early, I don’t think they will be calling smoking the right thing to do. Personally, I don’t understand why people decide to smoke in the first place but it is their decision to smoke, not mine. Smokers should at least be reminded of what they are doing to themselves and the people around them. This is my opinion: Smokers should not smoke in public places because it is bad for everyone’s health, the environment, and children’s future.