When walking into Wesco, it’s hard not to notice the 80 plus tobacco products behind the register.  Marlboro, Merit, Newport, and a whole lot more.  Labeled on each product, it warns the user, “This product contains nicotine.  Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical.”

With the cons of tobacco heavily outweighing the benefits, New Zealand has decided to act by prohibiting sales for future generations.  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacida Ardern believes that raising prices won’t put an end to smoking; therefore, the only other solution is to ban tobacco for future generations.  When prices of addictive drugs like tobacco increase, sales won’t decrease; however, they will only increase, due to the high priority of consumers.  Those who have smoked previously may continue to smoke; however, future generations won’t be able to.  In order to save more lives, the United States should follow in New Zealand’s steps and ban tobacco products.

By banning tobacco products, thousands of lives will be saved.  Nine out of every ten lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.  In other words, nine out of every ten lung cancer deaths are preventable.  Holland nurse care manager Mary Johnson is in favor of tobacco products being banned.  “In my 23 years of nursing, I’ve encountered many patients who smoke come into the hospital, complaining about not being able to breathe.  Many of these patients end up with severe lung damage, and possibly on oxygen for the remaining part of their life.”

The life of smokers on oxygen will never be the same.  When their grandchildren come over to play, they are physically unable to do so.  To make matters worse, the grandchildren will never be able to hear their grandparents’ true voices.

Additionally, family members don’t enjoy the stench of their grandparent’s houses or vehicles.  The nasty odors may negatively influence parents to not send their kids to their grandparents’ house.

Tobacco is also responsible for plenty of other health conditions.  When using tobacco products, the lungs become clogged over time, eventually leading to severe damage.  Tobacco does more than just cause lung cancer.  A few of the numerous other health issues associated with tobacco include heart attacks, strokes, and COPD.  By deciding to use tobacco, the immune system greatly weakens, making diseases like COVID more deadly.  If this doesn’t convince individuals that tobacco should be banned, nothing will.

There’s also a reasonable argument against a ban on tobacco.  Banning tobacco would interfere with people’s freedom of choice.  West Side Smoke Shop employee Marcus Robinson believes that if tobacco is banned, individuals would be stripped of their right to make choices.  “Tobacco products should not be banned.  By banning tobacco, it would deprive people of freedom of choice.”

Even though this is a valid argument, it’s simply not the better argument.  Other drugs like cocaine and heroin are illegal due to how dangerous they are; therefore, tobacco should be banned as well.

In order to save lives, it is necessary to ban tobacco products.  This is one of the few times the United States government should step in and impede citizens’ freedom of choice.  Tobacco cuts short the life of nearly seven million people each year as well as also being the leading cause of preventable deaths.  Due to the negative side effects of tobacco, the United States government should follow New Zealand’s path and ban all products.