Cigarette Addiction

Essay Question:

What do you consider the most urgent social issue in the world today, why is it urgent, and how might it be resolved?

She leaned over, carton in hand, and coolly offered me a cigarette. I hesitated and thought of my grandfather who had recently died of a heart attack only years before. The doctor said it was most likely caused by his untamed addiction to cigarettes which he had acquired around age fifteen. Eventually I gave in and smoked the first cigarette in my life which would quickly accumulate to several per day. If one person can get addicted to a cigarette that easily, what's stopping them from getting passionately involved with marijuana, or harder drugs, especially at such a young age? A person who is a slave to cigarettes is just as bad as one who is addicted to crack cocaine.

The issue being addressed isn't only how addictive cigarettes can be; it's the age at which they are introduced. Pretty soon teens that are smoking cigarettes will get bored and resort to party drugs. Society has tried to cut down on sales to teens under 18, but that clearly isn't stopping many. Our generation is being exposed to more anti-cigarette commercials and campaigns than ever before, but that growing addiction still continues. The advertisements against cigarettes aren't exactly believable considering the fact that the government are trying to scare people out of smoking them. I believe that stronger visuals and more recent statistics would be a lot more effective than an assumption. If cigarettes are as bad as they are cut out to be, than why aren't they, or the purchase of nicotine, illegal? Why are people still smoking cigarettes if they are so "supposedly bad" for your body? I believe that if one is actually shown the process of decay and destruction their bodies go through they would be a lot more aware of their choices.