tobacco

Anne Tam
5th hour
March 30, 2009
Tobacco Products: Your fault or Theirs?
What would you do if you were blamed for something you did not do? This is what many tobacco selling companies face a year. Each year, many tobacco companies are sued by tobacco users who have illnesses due to smoking and tobacco, and by people who has had family members die from the effects and complications. This topic is important because there are two sides to this argument. Some believe tobacco companies should be responsible for selling tobacco products even though they know it is bad for people, and other believe that it should be the tobacco user’s own fault. Therefore, tobacco companies should not be held responsible for smoking related illnesses and deaths.
There are many reasons why tobacco companies should not be held responsible for smoking related illnesses and deaths. For example, there are kids that start smoking at a very young age. According to http://www.coursework.info/AS_and_A_Level/Healthcare/Smoking_Amongst_Young_People___Why_does_L35173.html, young teens and children start smoking at young ages because smoking gives them something to do with their hands, and it makes them feel less awkward. Also, smoking can make the child or teen feel more grown up since they are practicing adult behavior. They were not pressured into smoking or using tobacco products. This shows that smoking is a choice. The tobacco companies are not making people smoke or use their tobacco products; they are just producing the products. It is a person’s own choice to smoke or not smoke.
In addition, tobacco companies print warning labels onto the cigarette

packets to warn the user of the effects of tobacco. According to http://sonomacigarettes.com/, the Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act of 1965, it required that the warning “Caution: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Heath” be printed on one of the side panels on every cigarette package. Also, there is a warning on the cigarette packages that state “ SURGEON GENERAL’S WARNING: Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, and May Complicate Pregnancy.” This shows that the tobacco companies do tell the tobacco user what the user is doing to their body and what could happen if they use the tobacco products.
Furthermore, according to http://smoking.ygoy.com/parental-smoking-influences-children-to-take-up-smoking/, parents who smoke in front of their children give them psychological encouragement and inclination to start smoking at a young age. This shows that children who start smoking at a young age could have picked up this nasty habit by watching their parents smoke. This also shows that the tobacco companies are not forcing young children to smoke; it is actually the children watching their parents smoke that make them think smoking is okay.
These three facts prove why tobacco companies should not be held responsible for smoking related illnesses and deaths.