By: Katarina Rendon
At just fifty years old, being alive for half a century should be celebrated with family and friends, maybe catching a bite to eat at a nice restaurant. This is not where my uncle found himself. Instead of chowing down on fine cuisine, he was bed ridden, sick with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, otherwise known as COPD. All of this because of a simple nicotine addiction that started when he was just fifteen. All of this because tobacco companies insist on continuing to sell cancerous products wrapped in paper. A cigarette is known to many, however, those same people may not know about the severe and almost deadly consequences of smoking. Tobacco has committed repeated offences against the whole of humanity by poisoning our lungs, by continuously being made to be addictive, and by absolutely destroying a smokers hopes for a healthy future. This logic calls for the need to completely eradicate tobacco, and forever rid of its evil doings on planet earth.
Cigarettes have been known as a controversial item because many people know that the smoke exhausted from the cigarette is very harmful and can permit you to become terminally ill. However, the tobacco companies refuses to admit to their faults. This is the main reason many smokers learn misinformation about the harsh smog. Because of this, chronic smokers are pushed by the poisonous fog into the open arms of sickness and death. All the while, big tobacco companies are running away with the unfortunate smoker’s coin.
Big Tobacco companies have been found at the center of many accusations concerning the levels of addictiveness present in their products. These products have been shown to be loaded with chemical compounds that literally make it easier for someone to get addicted quicker. Different types of chemicals such as bronchodilators have been added so that the smoke has an easier passageway to the lungs. One might think that tobacco and other “unknown” chemicals might be the only thing composing the cigarettes. However, sugars, flavors, and menthol levels increased in order to dull the sting of smoke and make it easier to inhale.
The demand for tobacco started in the 1840’s, people wouldn’t shop for brand, just for quality. But, the first nicotine advertisement for people in the United States was placed in the New York daily paper in 1789. This created the spiral of competition for brand names such as Philip Morris International and Marlboro. Ever since the number of hospital admissions because of complications with the lungs and teeth have increased ten-fold. Now in our modern society, ads showcasing real survivors of addiction to cigarettes shows the long term side effects it can have. From lung cancer to having to speak through an electro larynx, these things and turnouts are real and very dangerous. Smoking can leave you with a massive scar that will not shy away from damaging your mental and physical state.
It is not a big secret that anti-smoking ads are EVERYWHERE. However, it’s also no big secret that many chronic smokers completely ignore these warnings and continue to bring harm to themselves through this pernicious product manufactured and sold by big tobacco companies. Usually, being in a hospital is not a good experience for anyone. Hospitals generate a distressed emotion in many and rarely bring good news. Having been in the hospital twice for the same reason ought to be a huge warning for health risks. Unfortunately for my uncle, this was not the case. Still, he continues to corrupt his lungs for a short “fix” of the virulent poison that comes from tobacco. In a perfect world, tobacco wouldn’t spread havoc, practically suffocating humanity with a single puff of smog. All the problems that have arose because of tobacco, would cease to exist, therefore pushing us just a bit closer to a euphoric society.