Public Smoking

ATTENTION STEP:

I. Imagine that you are sitting at a restaurant waiting on a table and there is a group of people sitting next to you smoking cigarettes. As they blow out their smoke in your direction, you are breathing in a combination of the smoke from the burning cigarettes and the smoke exhaled by the smokers. Then you stop to think that this combination has about 60 known cancer-causing chemicals in it and you begin to wonder what is going to happen to your health from breathing the smoke in. By this time you are annoyed at the smokers and start to think of ways to stop them from smoking in public.

A. The Cleveland Clinic shows the harmful effects that could be caused to your body by Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) or Secondhand smoke. Such as asthma, eye and nasal irritation, Lung cancer, Nasal cancer, heart disease, and decrease in lung function. The effects from ETS can cause more serious problems for women that are pregnant, such as: low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, miscarriage, and cervical cancer.

II. All of these serious health issues could easily be avoided.

A. I propose that the U.S. government enact stronger laws to stop people from smoking in public and to impose heavier fines to those who do not comply with the new laws.

B. I would like the audience to understand that the current laws on public smoking do not prevent enough secondhand smoke and there should be new laws enacted to prevent public smoking

NEED STEP:

I. Smoking is the leading cause of Preventable death in the United States.

A. Every year, Americans will contract diseases, develop cancer, and die from smoking.

1. The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) says that Secondhand smoke can cause: 30% increase in heart disease, stroke, 20-30% increase in lung cancer, nasal cancer, and a 40-60% increase risk of decreased lung function or respiratory diseases.

2. According to the Tobacco Information and Prevention Source (TIPS), more than 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking, which is 16% of all deaths in the U.S., and according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), between 40,000-68,000 Americans die from secondhand smoke each year which is between 1.5%-2.7% of all deaths in the U.S. For every 8 people that die from smoking 1 dies from ETS.

B. Annually, smokers spend thousands of dollars on their habits.

1. According to the Centers for Disease Center (CDC), between 1995 and 1999, Smokers spent an average of $157 billion dollars on medical problems. $75 billion of this is on medical bills, and $82 billion is caused by productivity loss.

2. According to the Society of Actuaries (SOA), Non-smokers spend $10 billion dollars annually on medical costs caused by Secondhand smoke.

II. These problems cannot be reduced with the current laws on public smoking.

A. The U.S. government and state governments have enacted laws to ban public smoking.

1. According to the American Cancer Society, All 50 states have laws that ban smoking indoors, but they range from designated smoking areas inside the buildings to a complete ban from inside. Also, all 50 states impose an excise tax on cigarettes ranging form $0.07 in South Carolina, and $2.46 per pack in Rhode Island. All 50 states prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors; this age is 18 in most states, but it is 19 in Alabama, Alaska, and Utah. And 45 states penalize tobacco related offenses, 36 states prohibit minors from possessing tobacco products, 25 states impose community service on minors guilty of tobacco possession, 8 states are allowed to suspend a minors license for possession of tobacco, and 14 states require guilty minors to attend smoking education classes.

2. In February of 2005, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) enacted a treaty to reduce the death rate and medical expenses created by tobacco use. The treaty requires member countries to take steps in stopping tobacco use, and put stronger tobacco control policies in place. The U.S. has signed this treaty, but has yet to ratify and enforce it.

B. Many states are now finding loopholes around the bans and problems with the laws on public smoking.

1. According to The Smokers Club, Inc., On July 1, Georgia became one of the 12 states that have the option to ban everyone under 18 from the establishment to allow smoking inside, or to ban smoking and allow children inside.

2. In Lakewood OHIO, David Sartin, a Plain Dealer Reporter, states that there will be bans in restaurants that do not have liquor licenses, and the ban will only