The integral justification why public authorities should impose tight regulations on tobacco use is the significant number of deaths caused by it. According to a recent Lancet study, there were almost 8 million deaths globally due to tobacco smoke in 2019 (Reitsma et al., 2021). In addition, it was the leading risk factor for death among the male population (Reitsma et al., 2021). Therefore, officials impose restrictions on cigarettes as a measure to maintain the well-being of the population.
One of the other pressing issues is the fact that tobacco causes different types of cancer, including lung cancer. The World Health Organization (2021) indicates that smokers are 22 times more likely to develop lung cancer in comparison to non-smokers. It should be noted that cancer disease causes extreme suffering to people, so that stricter regulations may reduce aggregated harm to the population.
Even infrequent use of cigarettes can cause a serious addiction that will prevent people from leading normal life. This factor is especially important among the younger population, who may commit mistakes and become regular smokers. For example, recent data show that 90% of newly addicted smokers become addicted before the age of 25 (Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, 2021). It means that if people do not smoke before 25, they are more likely to never get addicted again. Therefore, it is very important to protect the younger generation through a complete ban on the sale of tobacco to minors.
Lastly, it seems that the extensive use of cigarettes among a significant part of the population may cause financial difficulties. It is especially relevant for the poorest segments of the population, which may sacrifice their nutrition and housing in favor of cigarettes. Thus, tobacco use creates a great barrier to socialization and recovery from poverty. Concerning state policies to help poor people, they may combine taxes on tobacco producers to increase prices and rehabilitation programs for addicted poor people.
References
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. (2021). Latest global data finds nearly 8 million deaths from smoking in 2019, and 90% of new smokers addicted by age 25. Cision. Web.
Reitsma, M. B., Kendrick, P. J., Ababneh, E., Abbafati, C., Abbasi-Kangevari, M., Abdoli, A., Abedi, A., Abhilash, E. S., Abila, D. B., Aboyans, B., Abu-Rmeileh, N., Adebayo, O., Advani, S., Aghaali, M., Ahinkorah, B., Ahmad, S., Ahmadi, K., Ahmed, H., Aji, B.,… & Gorini, G. (2021). Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990–2019: a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. The Lancet, 397(10292), 2337-2360.
World Health Organization. (2021). World cancer day: Know the facts – tobacco and alcohol both cause cancer. Web.