7th November 2016

Letter to the Next President

Dear Future President,

Please consider my opinion that smoking should be illegal. I do not understand why smoking is legal in the first place. Are people just trying to be cool, or are they trying to feel better? Are people just addicted, or do people want to smoke? None of these sound right to me. Why would you smoke to feel better or to be cool? I think people smoke because everyone else is. What if your best friend, who smokes, came up to you and said, “Hey, you should smoke. Everyone does it, do not worry!” Would you smoke, or not?

First, smoking should be illegal because it is terrible for you. You can get cancers and diseases just from smoking. Paul Brodish, author of “Smoking Has Serious Health Effects,” explains that you can start to have blood-vessel diseases the more you smoke, which makes it hard to walk, run, and move. If you smoke you could also ruin your lungs and not be able to do sports or some of the things you like to do everyday. Some teens might say, “But, I smoked for a week and nothing happened.” If someone says you could get sick from smoking, it does not mean that you are going to get sick the first day you smoke. It could happen the first day, it could happen in a month. Everyone is different, so you can not go from what one person says to you and stick to it.

Second, smoking should be illegal because it unpleasant for others to witness, and stand. Say you were at a party with your family and you want to go outside for some fresh air. If someone is smoking out there and you breathe in some of the nicotine, that could be a bad situation for you as much as the smoker. Africa News Service explains, "Smoking kills or smoking seriously harms others around you, especially children.” I feel bad for children that have to witness parents or family members smoking everyday because they shouldn’t have to smell the nicotine and smoke. I understand how it feels to have a family member smoke because my aunt used to smoke; however, she tried to stop and has not smoked for at least a year.

Overall, I feel that people should not start smoking in the first place because it is terrible for you and the environment. If I were someone who started smoking, I would try my hardest to stop. I understand that it can be very hard and painful to stop smoking because of addiction; however, keep trying and if you stop smoking, I know it will be worth it.

Sincerely,

Madelyn M.

Works Cited Page

Tavernise, Sabrina. “Experts Say Vaping Alarm Is Overdone.” New York Times, 2 Nov. 2016, p. A.1. SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com.

Kaplan, Karen. “New Insight into Tobacco's Toll.” Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2016, p. A.15. SIRS Issues Researcher, sks.sirs.com.

“How A Pregnant Woman's Choices Could Shape A Child's Health.” Morning Edition, 2013, Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/audiodetailspage/audiodetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=audio&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|a343699427&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=8da206f292c065f29d08dcdb811133f3.

“EU Gets Tough to Stub Out Smoking.” Africa News Service, 2001, p. 1008136u3718.Opposing Viewpoints in Context, ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/newsdetailspage/newsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=news&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|a74568811&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=362a5b69d41a9d8169f482a33dfa5bce.

Brodish, Paul. “Smoking Has Serious Health Effects.” Www.acsh.org/Publications/Booklets/Iesmoke.html, Edited by Laura K. Egendorf, 2000, Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/viewpointsdetailspage/viewpointsdetailswindow?disablehighlighting=false&displaygroupname=viewpoints&currpage=&scanid=&query=&prodid=ovic&search_within_results=&p=ovic&mode=view&catid=&limiter=&display-query=&displaygroups=&contentmodules=&action=e&sortby=&documentid=gale|ej3010179209&windowstate=normal&activitytype=&failovertype=&commentary=&source=bookmark&u=cort85574&jsid=40e43dbc0d1d4cff06576e709822e2b2.