The Right to Smoke

                                            

                                                      

          I have a right to smoke; and, nobody should have the right to stop me.

Those antismoking organizations are bandits, robbing smokers of their good name and of their money. They say that smokers are weak and their lives are controlled by nicotine while the smokers are just simply enjoying one of the pleasures of life. The government charges high tax on each pack of cigarettes. The tax is supposed to help the smokers to quit; on the contrary, it’s a way the government gets more money they can waste. They claim, “Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you.” I always think it’s ridiculous whenever I see a sentence that starts with “Everyone knows.” Well, I don’t know any consequences of it. I’ve been smoking for 33 years, and I’m still alive. There hasn’t been any decline in my health. Actually, life couldn’t be better for me. So, what’s bad about it? What have I missed?

           They say that smoking will shorten your life. Really?  Why some people live longer than others is still not fully understood. Some scholars suggest that it’s all because of the different lifestyles (Rosenberg) (Simon 18). One of the lifestyle choices is to smoke. In keeping with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 56.9 percent of adult men smoked, whereas only 28.4 percent of adult women did back in 1955, but the smoking rates almost evened out to 25.2 percent and 20.7 percent by 2001, respectively (Simon 20). If smoking is one of the causes of longevity, why is the gap of longevity between women and men getting larger even as smoking rates have equalized (20)? Even though Dr. Simon explained, "It is because smoking kills slowly." I disagree with him. If smoking kills slowly, Japanese life expectancy at birth will not increase from 81.9 years in 2005 to 87.1 years in 2050 (United Nations. DESA 81). As we know, Japanese are at the top of the longevity ranking (Belsky 96) while Japan is one of the last industrialized countries in the world where smoking is still common. Statistics show Japanese smoking rate among adults was 43.3 for men and 12% for women in 2004; one of the highest rates in the world (WHO Report 114).

          Therefore, don’t tell me that smoking will shorten my life. I think that most antismoking research is garbage. Why should I believe them when they say that I’m poisoning myself if I smoke? Just like I don’t think I’m poisoning myself when I have a shot of Cognac or a meal at In and Out. In fact, I did all three of these things today. I’m happy and I’m still alive.

          The photograph I am writing about is called "Newsies at Skeeter Branch" which was taken by photographer Lewis Hine in St. Louis, Missouri on May 9, 1910. Newsies means newspaper delivery boys. Skeeter's Branch was on Jefferson Street, near Franklin Avenue (now Martin Luther King Drive). Lewis Hine became a staff photographer for the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and traveled across much of the southern and eastern states documenting the working conditions of factories, fields, mines, mills and canneries which used child labor. The results of Hine's photographic pursuits eventually established laws that eliminated child labor and provided safety laws for all workers (Lewis).

 

          This picture which was taken 100 years ago aroused my interest. Looking at the picture, I think most people would probably say, “Those kids will become failures.” Contrary to what people think, many newsboys in the early 1900s were not orphans or criminals. They grew up to be effective citizens. For example, the middle boy in the picture of the three boys is Raymond Klose. He was born in 1897. According to Joe Manning who interviewed with Raymond Klose’s niece, Raymond Klose smoked most of his life. He was a very funny guy who enjoyed his job, owned and lived in a single-family home, raised show dogs and had a good life (MANNING). 

          Raymond Klose was born in St. Louis on May 9, 1897, which means he was photographed on his 13^th birthday. He passed away in St. Louis on November 7, 1964, at the age of 67. He lived one year longer than Lewis Hine, the photographer, who was not a smoker and died in poverty (Lewis).

          I don’t mean I encourage underage smoking, but you can’t compare two things that exist in different timelines. For instance, people could get married when they were fifteen 100 years ago. What will happen in our society now? Think back about the time, most people including the parents and kids worked hard to make ends meet. A cigarette for the working class was a luxury they could afford. Give them a break.

          Back to the reality, the government is getting involved too much in our lives. Banning smoking is just a tip of the iceberg. I can understand that smoking in public buildings is against the law because I don’t like the second hand smoke either. However, how about if you smoke in your own place? Many cities have banned smoking even in your own condo. Dublin, the town next to where I live in California, is an example of government out of control. If my town makes this law, I’ll have to move. Moreover, how about that the smokers may have to pay 50% more buying Obama Care? Is it fair?

          I’m not proposing that anti-smoking groups should not be allowed to express their opinion, nor do I think that a business owner should be forced to allow people to smoke if they don’t want to. But, if someone DOES want to allow smoking in their own private enterprise, it is their choice and their responsibility, not the government’s.  Again, I don’t think I have a right to smoke; I just think nobody should have the right to stop me.

          I am wondering what people will think about the picture below 100 years from now.

 

Will people in the future accuse us of hurting the children? 

Works Cited

Belsky, Janet. "Aging." Encyclopedia of Women and Gender. Ed. Judith Worell. Vol. 1. San Diego: Academic, 2001. 95-107. Print.

"Lewis Hine." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hine>.

MANNING, JOE. "Raymond Klose ." MORNINGS ON MAPLE STREET . a collection of articles, stories, photographs, the Lewis Hine Project, and much more by Joe Manning, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. <http://www.sevensteeples.com/raymondklose1.html>.

Rosenberg, Matt. "Life Expectancy: Overview of Life Expectancy." About.com. The New York Times Co., 19 Aug. 2007. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://geography.about.com/od/populationgeography/a/lifeexpectancy.htm>.

Simon, Harvey B. "Longevity: The Ultimate Gender Gap." Scientific American Special Edition June 2004: 18-23. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/ehost/detail?vid=14&hid=9&sid=175fd1fc-5fc6-4b1c-b8ed-9712a91ce665%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=13256917>.

United Nations. DESA. World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision. 81-83. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2012. <http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2006/WPP2006_Highlights_rev.pdf>.

World Health Organization. “Country Profiles.” WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, 2008: The Mpower Package. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2008. 114. WHO Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. Web. 26 Apr. 2012. <http://www.who.int/‌tobacco/‌mpower/‌mpower_report_full_2008.pdf>.