A stranger in public, holding a cigarette and a lighter. You walk passed that stranger, inhaling and exhaling 7,000 chemicals that can cause over 60 known cancers (“Harms Of Cigarettes”). T his topic is a huge problem around the world and it matters because it is a common activity that people would do in public and this would affect everything around them. You know what I’m talking about.

Smoking. Yes, you have read that correctly. Smoking should be banned in public because of various reasons. These reasons include secondhand smoking, population our environment and can also harm animals.
You see, my uncle-in-law was visiting me two years ago from Paris. His kids also came along with him. My uncle was a very cool guy, but he had a major problem with smoking. In fact, my uncle in law was always smoking after every meal.

Wait, I was wrong. He was smoking almost every two hours. Even when my family and I were hanging out in the living room with him, he would leave and smoke. This would affect me emotionally because he knows that it’s unhealthy for him and he doesn’t want to stop.

Now, let’s talk about secondhand smoking. What is secondhand smoking you may ask? Secondhand smoking is when a person inhales the smoke from someone who is smoking in public or elsewhere. Personally, I believe we should ban smoking in public because it is dangerous for your health.  Smokers might argue that people should cover their nose when they are near the smoke, but truthfully,  many people don’t know that smokers are smoking right around the corner. According to American Lungs Association, “7,500 to 15,000 kids, under 18 months of age, are hospitalized every year because of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke also affects their lower respiratory tract, resulting in between 150,000 and 300,000 infections in infants.” (“Health Effects Of, American”). This means secondhand smoking is very harmful to kids. About 7,500 to 15,000 kids under the age of 18 months are in hospitals. The effects of second-hand smoke include; twenty five to thirty percent of getting a heart disease and twenty to thirty percent of getting a stroke. Not only that, secondhand smoke also increases the risk of a heart attack and your body not functioning correctly (“Health Effects Of, Centers”).
Another important factor that we need to be aware of is how smoking harms our environment. I believe it is important to look after our environment because people don’t realize that smoking is a huge problem. On the other hand, people might say that smoking doesn’t cause pollution, even I don’t know that. However, little that they know the most dangerous element of air pollution is tobacco smoke. Air pollution, also known as toxic air, can be caused by cigarettes. In fact, it causes 10 times greater than cars and their engines (“Cigarette Smoke Produces”).  As stated by Truth Initiative, “Cigarettes make up more than one-third—nearly 38 percent—of all collected litter. Disposing of cigarettes on the ground or out of a car is so common that 75 percent of smokers report doing it” (“5 Ways Cigarette”). This means about 38 percent of all collected litter are from Cigarette butts. In fact, cigarette butts are the largest litter source. These waste can fall into rivers and lakes, entering marine animal lives (“5 Ways Smoking”).
Speaking of animal lives, smoking can also be very dangerous to our animals and pets. I truly believe that animals can get the same effect as humans when it comes to secondhand smoking. Although it might be true that owners don’t come to the realization that animals can get affected by secondhand smoke, animals do need oxygen to breath too.  “Animals can also experience health risks when they are exposed to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoking could lead to respiratory problems, allergies and even nasal and lung cancer in dogs and lymphoma in cats” (“How Cigarettes and”). This quotation is talking about how animals are also at risk when they are exposed to secondhand smoke.  Furthermore, when cats groom themselves, they lick the dust, soot, ash, nicotine can get caught on their fur (MailOnline). Not only cats, birds can also easily get affected by secondhand smoking and is most likely to cause lung cancer, and pneumonia (“How Cigarette Smoke”).

Once again, smoking should be banned in public because of secondhand smoking, negative effects to the environment, and can harm animals. My solution is to quit smoking. As simple as this sounds, it is easily the most impactful action that people can make. By quitting smoking, people will release less pollution in the atmosphere and animals wouldn’t be suffering from diseases. However, if people keep smoking, our environment is doomed and animals would be affected. Most importantly, humans are affected by secondhand smoking too. Why don’t people realize that the moment they buy a cigarette, it would cause countless problems? Why can’t the governments ban smoking because of the negative impacts that smoking provides to our world? If you understand my message, spread the word, and more importantly, quit smoking if you are a smoker.