By Karma Christine Salvato
Cigarette smoking accounts for about 430,700 of the more than two million annual deaths, according to the American Heart Association.
The AHA also found that “In the United States, an estimated 25.9 million men (27.1 percent) and 22.8 million women (22.2 percent) are smokers. These people are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. About 4.1 million teenagers ages 12 to 17 are smokers.”
In an Oct. 27 New York Times article by Alina Tugend titled “Cigarette Makers Take Anti-Smoking Ads Personally,” companies within the tobacco industry discuss how they don’t think attacking their companies is fair.
Not fair? Is it fair for millions of individuals to die every year from tobacco-related illnesses? Is it fair for non-smokers to have to inhale such harmful toxins?
Is it fair for babies and young children to have no control over the air they must breathe? No, it is not. Tobacco companies are up in arms because they think it is wrong to attack them for tobacco-related deaths. Get over it.
If anyone is in the wrong it’s tobacco companies and their employees. How can individuals work for a company knowing that it contributes to the death of numerous people every year?
Companies such as Philip Morris, the largest cigarette maker, are the perpetuators of a terrifying trend among American youth.
With the help of slick ads to glamorize the addiction, how could one not fall prey? A few years ago the controversial advertising figure, Joe Camel, was replaced by the traditional trademarked camel that appears on every pack of Camel cigarettes. The change resulted from arguments stating that Joe Camel made smoking appear as the cool thing to do; therefore targeting children and teens.
The public, especially teens and young adults, need to be told the truth. And thankfully, the truth is exactly what is being told through various hard-hitting anti-smoking campaigns. It is about time that someone has taken the initiative and has the guts to go against these evil entities.
Ground-breaking campaigns such as “truth,” which tells teenagers that if they smoke they are playing into the hands of big tobacco; “Think. Don’t Smoke” and “Tobacco Is Whacko if You’re a Teen” have helped to reduce smoking among teenagers.
Further statistics gathered by the AHA show that “More than 6,000 people under age 18 try a cigarette each day, and each day more than 3,000 persons under age 18 become daily smokers. If trends continue, about five million of these people will eventually die from a disease attributed to smoking.”
Death toll: 430,700 dead and counting. Will you, or someone you know, be added to the toll?
November 14, 2002