Why Should Tobacco Smoking Be Banned In Australia

Tobacco has and still is the most important public health issue faced in Australia and internationally. (Jochelson, 2006). Many countries such as North America, England, Australia, Canada and Ireland have introduced policies regarding smoking in public areas and restriction of smoking in indoor areas. (Thomson, Wilson & Edwards, 2009). The government, community leaders and policy makers work towards introducing policies that will stop consumers from smoking in public areas. (Pizacani, maher, Rohde, Drach & Stark, 2012). Government intervention should extend public smoking bans so that second hand smokers can be safe, a better environment and less death incidents relating to smoking.

In the United States, smoking cigarettes is the number one preventable cause of morbidity and death (Bergen, 1999), and accounts for $300 Billion in health care costs and economic productivity loss (Jamal, 2015). While the national smoking rate is 16.8% (CDC, 2016), specific demographics are more susceptible to developing smoking habits: people who live below the poverty line (10.9% higher), disabled or with a limitation (6.2% higher), and males (4.7% higher) (Agaku, 2014).

Smoking is an activity that has been around for many years for people to use and adapt into their lifestyle. It is a tool that many people use to help reduce the stresses of life and put them in a comfortable position that enables them to cope with the hectic lifestyle they are living. However, smoking has been scientifically proven to cause many types of cancer, the most common being lung cancer resulting in numerous deaths across the United States. According to BBC, "Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease" (BBC, 2). Evidently, the benefits and drawbacks of smoking have been debated for many years, and only recently have some countries have placed a ban in public places such as Britain and the United

The smoking habit is the principal cause of illness, disability and death around the world. More than five million of people in the world die due to smoking habit every year. If we don’t take care of this in 2030 the amount will be ten million. Seven million of these deaths would be in poor countries.

If a product kills million of consumer would we keep it out in the market? If an industry is costing the federal government 955 billion dollars would we keep subsidizing it? If there is a group of the work force that could be using their skills to aid in the hundreds of other areaas that they could be helping why wouldn’t we take action already? In 1920 the United States Government decided that the consumption, production and transportation of alcohol had enough of a negative effect on the nation as a whole that they banned liquor all together. The same action should be taken with the consumption, faming, distribution and even the possession of tobacco and cigarettes. Cigarettes should be banned because they have a countless amount of health consequences, tobacco farmers cost the federal government billion to bail them out instead of reinvesting that money to aid in really any other are of farming that is struggling, and lastly because of the environmental impact and footprint that the growing of tobacco and manufacturing of cigarettes produces.

Cigarettes and other tobacco products should be made illegal because of the economic effects, addictive properties, secondhand smoke, and can lead to disease and/or death.

This essay is aimed to explore, analyse and discuss smoking in adults. Smoking is a public health issue as such is one of the major contributors to high mortality and ill-health in the adults which is preventable (Health and Excellence Care (NICE) (2012). The United Kingdom (UK) is known to have the highest number of people with a history of smoking among people with low socio-economic status (Scriven and Garman, 2006; Goddard and Green, 2005). Smoking is considered a serious epidemic in the UK and the National institute for Health and Excellence Care (NICE, 2012) stated that 28% of adults with low economic status are tobacco smokers compared with 13% of those with economic status or having professional

Smoking is recognised as the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia. It is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, emphysema, bronchitis, asthma, renal disease and eye disease. Tobacco contains the powerfully addictive stimulant nicotine, which can make smoking a regular and long-term habit that is not easy to quit (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014). Statistics show

This is essentially why the Council of Australia created a partnership between all levels of Government, to work with the aboriginal communities to ‘close the gap. In 2012, the “close the gap” campaign, managed by Mr Justin Mohamed chair of the NACCHO, stated that the smoking rate of aboriginals is at 47% and in 2013 the ‘close the gap’ campaign has activities in place such as “Develop Regional Implementation”, which “cut down smoking by 20%” of those over the age of 15 who smoke. This has decreased the chance of cancer and lowers mortality rates and is slowly closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous men and women of Australia. The new anti-smoking campaign for 2016 was released on the 2nd of May, which looks at smoking in all Australian people and has also included advertisements with indigenous people talking about their aim to be healthy and give up smoking and not to become a statistic. According to the Victorian Health Department, indigenous people over the age of 15, are “2.8 times more likely to be daily smokers” (Healthgovau, 2016)than any

Healthy People 2020 is a movement in America which was started in 1979 and provides 10 year national objectives based on science for promoting health and preventing diseases. It sets and monitors health objectives and tries to influence individuals to make informed health decisions. With such kind of objectives, smoking becomes a big health concern to Healthy People 2020. Smoking affects national health and causes health disparities. Smoking has been associated with a number of health complications such as cancer and heart diseases. Under Healthy People 2010 issues such as smoking during pregnancy and cigarette smoking cessation were to be addressed.

“Smoking rates have halved in Australians over the past 30 years, falling below 16%. Except for in Indigenous populations, smoking rates have remained at more than twice this level, with even higher rates reported in remote communities” (RACGP, 2013) The inequality that has been faced by Indigenous people is still at an unacceptable level, and has “been identified as a human rights concern by the United Nations” (Dick, 2007). Smoking is a major issue because, “it is the most preventable contributor to the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples” (Ivers, 2011). “Smoking contributes to 17% of the life expectancy gap” (Australian Government: Department for Health and Welfare, 2011). The socio-economic disadvantage faced by Indigenous people leads to the addiction of tobacco, which can be caused by many factors including; their position on the social gradient, education, social exclusion, their employment status and their social support. There is a lack of developed personal skills on the health risks of tobacco, “some Aboriginals don’t identify smoking as a health issue” (Korff, 2014), due to the history of Aboriginal people around smoking. As well as first hand smoke, passive smoking also contributes to poor health, especially for children. Smoking is the major cause for heart disease, stroke, some cancers, lung diseases and a variety of other conditions (HealthInfoNet.ecu.edu.au, 2013). “If we could reduce tobacco consumption levels

This study examined the health inequalities among different socio-economic groups from 2004 to 2014 among Australians whose age ranging from 20 to 65 years old. According to the study, the health risk factor behaviour; smoking by sex results indicated that males smoking were higher than females during the study period. The highest rate of smoking were reported among males in 2004. Smoking status by education groups suggested that the highest rate of smoking were accounted in year 12 or below group in all three years, while university degree holders accounted for the least group. The different income groups showed that the poorest people smoking percentage were higher compared to the richest and the percentage had increased when it was moving

Tobacco consumption is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the United States. In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year. That is around one in five deaths annually only because of smoking. On an average, the person who smokes dies ten years earlier than a non-smoker. These statistics are not mere numbers but speak about the gravity of the situation. The United States government should portray a more negative view on Tabaco to save the lives of many people worldwide (Centre for Disease and Prevention, second paragraph).

The purpose of this economics report is to illustrate the economic concerns and arguments around smoking in Australia and the methods of taxing aimed at reducing the smoking rate. The report will use a variety of research articles, economic theories and models to report on this issue so that the CEO of the Cancer Council of Australia has a thorough understanding.

Should cigarette smoking be banned for everyone in the United States? Why? Why not? Should those who chose their time smoking to relieve stress, personal enjoyment, or simply just because, have to lose their right to what makes them happy? Smoking tobacco products has been around for decades and in many different forms. Should personal rights be pushed aside to please those around us that disagree with the so called “disgusting habit”? In the paper The Washington Times an article caught my interest called”D.C. seeks bans on smoking in national parks” written by Steven Dinan. In this article he stated that “Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton wrote Park Service Regional Director Steve Whitesell saying she’s heard from constituents who fear