Smoking on College Campus

Today about four hundred thousands Americans die annually because of the health problem due to smoking. One and a half million people quit smoking a year, but more than fifty millions people keep on going. Tobacco contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive. Once you start smoking, it is very hard, but not impossible to quit. Smoking has several harmful effects on the body. People who smoke for a significant period of time will have problems with breathing and will most likely be in poor health. One out of four deaths of people from thirty-five to sixty-four years old result from smoking. Based on scientific research, every cigarette takes five and a half minutes of life away from a smoker. (American Cancer Society)

I see that there is a large amount of college students who are willing to light up a cigarette whenever they want to anywhere the college campus. Many of them said that “I am not harming people around by smoking.” They are totally wrong. They are actually harming other students around by releasing the smoke from their cigarettes, which contains an extraordinary amount of toxin, into the air. According to an article from Air Purifiers, “The smoke particles and chemicals in the air cause asthma attacks and allergic reactions to occur in many people.” Also, for many years, there have been many organizations and governments that reported secondhand smoke is very harmful to nonsmokers. Each year, fifty three thousands people die from the effects of second-hand smoke. The Environmental Protection Agency reports that three thousands nonsmokers die each year from lung cancer obtained from being exposed to second-hand smoke (American Heart ). The American Heart Association says that thirty five thousands non-smokers die each year with heart problems associated with secondhand smoke. In California, there is law that bans smoking in several public places but not all of them. In addition, many college smokers are social smokers who only smoke more when they are around with their peers. For example, my friend only smokes five cigarettes when he is by himself. However, he smokes more when he is around his peers. After smoking, he said that he felt less stressed and more relaxed. Here we see that, smoking on campus not only causes health problem to nonsmokers but also creates an environment that force other smokers to smoke more. As a college student, I see that smoking on college campus is largely ignored. Therefore, there should be something