Essay Sample on Cigarette & Tobacco Industry: A Major Part of US Economy

Introduction

The cigarette and tobacco industry has been a significant portion of the United State's economy for many years. According to the Centers for Disease Controls (CDC), the US is the fourth largest cigarette and tobacco-producing nation globally, following Brazil, China, and India (CDC, 2017). The states of Kentucky and North Carolina alone accounts for 70% of the total cultivation of tobacco in the country (CDC, 2017). Four companies, namely, Liggett, Reynolds American Inc., Philip Morrison, and ITG Brands, control the industry, and generates significant profits from cigarette sales (CDC, 2017). However, tobacco products have detrimental effects as it increases the risk of getting lung cancer, asthma, long-term cough, and high blood pressure. Exposure to second-hand tobacco and cigarette smoke, as well, enhance the rate of premature deaths. The United States should, therefore, ban cigarette smoking and tobacco use because it harms the body, it causes environmental pollution, and it increases healthcare costs.

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Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking

Cigarette smoking is harmful to a smoker's health, as it harms almost every organ of the body. The substance can damage the lungs, blood vessels, the heart, kidney, liver, and stomach. As a result, smoking increases the risk of cancers of the lungs, colon or rectum, bladder, kidneys, throat, and the voice box (CDC, 2020). Tobacco products contain tar, a poisonous substance that narrows arteries and capillaries when it enters into the blood. The outcome is an increase in the chances of clot formation, higher heart rate, and blood pressure. Together, these changes in the body can cause fatal complications such as stroke and heart attack (CDC, 2020).

Smoking reduces infertility besides causing reproductive problems. Substances in tobacco make it harder for women to become pregnant as it causes genetic damages on the ova or eggs. The rate of childlessness among female smokers is twice that of nonsmokers. Moreover, active smokers take a longer time to conceive than women who do not smoke. Women that use tobacco at an early age, according to CDC (2020), are at a higher risk of ectopic pregnancy, which refers to the implantation of the ova outside the womb. For pregnant women, exposure to cigarette smoke increases the chances of miscarriage. Another issue that may occur during pregnancy includes stillbirth and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (CDC, 2020).

In male smokers, tar in cigarettes can damage blood vessels that supply blood to reproductive organs, thus causing infertility. This phenomenon increases the risk of testicular cancer and low sperm count (CDC, 2020). According to the CDC (2020), male smokers have a low quality of sperms, a situation that causes miscarriage among pregnant women. This aspect suggests that even female nonsmokers can miscarriage if their spouses use tobacco products.

Smoking damages lung tissues as substances in tobacco blocks airways. Because of this complication, smokers can experience difficulties breathing, and in severe cases, they can develop Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Symptoms of COPD that occur as a result of narrow air pipes include frequent chest infections and persistent coughs. The unhealthy population is unproductive, suggesting that the US should prohibit tobacco use.

Social, Psychological, and Economic Effects

There are several social and psychological effects of cigarette smoking. According to the American Cancer Society (2018), adolescents that use tobacco are more likely to carry weapons, drink alcohol, and use illegal drugs. Teenagers that smoke cigarettes, as well, tend to engage in high-risk sexual behaviors and are at a higher risk of mental health problems like depression. Research has also indicated that youth that uses e-cigarettes are more likely to use multiple tobacco products at a later age (American Cancer Society, 2018). This way, there is a need to ban these products as it has adverse social and psychological effects on adolescents' population.

Smoking causes slow and steady death among active smokers as it makes the body weak. American Cancer Society (2018) has found that nearly half of active smokers die as a result of health complications associated with smoking. There is also evidence that 1 out of 5 deaths in the US occur as a result of illnesses related to using tobacco products (American Cancer Society, 2018). Again, cigarette smokers die younger than people that do not smoke. Research has proved that female and male smokers live 11 and 12 years shorter than nonsmokers, respectively (American Cancer Society, 2018). According to Mokdad (2017), tobacco use kills more people than a combination of deaths that occurs as a result of HIV, accidents, and illegal drugs.

Cigarette smoking increases the cost of healthcare expenditure. Currently, the US incurs more than $300 billion annually to treat illnesses related to the use of tobacco products (CDC, 2017). The cost of direct medical care alone is nearly $170 billion (CDC, 2017). At the state level, the proportion of healthcare expenditure on managing tobacco-related illnesses is between 6% and 18% (Ekpu & Brown, 2015). Exposure to tobacco smoke, as well, costs the US $5.6 billion in lost productivity (CDC, 2017). In overall, lost productivity associated with cigarette smoking is $156 billion, suggesting that tobacco use burdens the economy (CDC, 2017).

Conclusion

Tobacco or cigarette smoking has far-reaching social, economic, and health effects on the country. It causes several health complications like asthma and lung cancer, among other illnesses that damage various organs of the body. The US should outlaw cigarette smoking as a way to reduce healthcare expenditure on diseases associated with the use of tobacco. Exposure to secondary tobacco smoke, as well, increases the risk of health complications that makes the population unhealthy and less productive. Thus, the country should forbid tobacco smoking as a way to prevent detrimental psychological, health, social, and economic effects on the population.

References

American Cancer Society. (2018, September). Health risks of smoking tobacco. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/tobacco-and-cancer/health-risks-of-smoking-tobacco.html

CDC. (2017, February 19). Economic trends in tobacco. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/index.htmCDC. (2020, February 20). Health effects of cigarette smoking. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm

Ekpu, V. U., & Brown, A. K. (2015). The economic impact of smoking and of reducing smoking prevalence: Review of the evidence. Tobacco Use Insights, 8, TUI.S15628. https://doi.org/10.4137/tui.s15628

Mokdad, A. H. (2017). Actual causes of death in the United States. JAMA, 291(10), 1238. doi: jama.291.10.1238