Writing Topic
Some people think that smoking
cigarettes should become illegal, since it provides little benefit and a great
deal of health risk, others feel that individuals should be free to smoke
cigarettes if they choose to do so. Do you think cigarette smoking should be
stopped by making it illegal or should it remain legal?
☆Let’s Think
1.
If cigarette smoking becomes
illegal, which of the following is banned?
a.
Cigarette smoking in public
places
b.
Cigarette smoking at home
2.
Discuss the first idea in the
writing topic. Does smoking provide little benefit? What kind of health risks
does smoking provide?
3.
Discuss the second idea in the
writing topic. Can freedom of choice be applied to the choice of smoking?
4.
This topic is the choice
between health and freedom. Should cigarette smoking be illegal to protect
one’s health or legal to respect one’s freedom and personal responsibility?
☆ Hints for points
Cigarette smoking should be illegal.
1. It is toxic and causes cancer and other serious diseases.
2. It is addictive.
3. Second-hand smoke/smoking is a serious threat to public health.
- Counterarguments: 1) There are measures to take to prevent
second-hand smoke such as separate-smoking and ban on smoking in public areas.
(Smoking will remain legal while smoking in certain areas will be illegal.) ⇔ These measures are not practical because there are many smokers who
do not comply with the rules and you cannot catch or shut up smoke completely.
2) Banning smoking will undermine the economy. ⇔ Some
estimate shows that the smoking related loss, mainly medical costs, surpasses
the loss caused by tobacco ban. Even though the estimate is not flawless given
other factors such as unhealthy lifestyle and environmental pollution, it is
intuitively convincing, since fixing something costs more than preventing the
destruction of it in general. 3) Smoking helps smokers release stress. The so-called relaxing effect of smoking is a
myth. It is scientifically proved that smoking has no such effect and actually
increases stress by raising blood pressure.
- Conclusion: To protect public health, individual freedom can be
limited.
Cigarette smoking should not be illegal.
1. You have the right to do whatever you want to do even if it endangers
your health.
2. Other dangerous things such as alcoholic drinks or mountain
climbing are not illegal.
3. Smoking is a necessary evil like drinking and gambling because it
is an established part of society. If cigarettes are banned, some cultures will
be affected. For example, coffee shops or music clubs will be affected. Also, cigarette
industry would go underground if banned. It will be a source of income for
gangs.
- Counterarguments: Secondhand smoke harms other people. ⇔ Only public smoking should be banned. - Conclusion: As long as measures are taken
to prevent second-hand smoking, the choice between health and fun should be
left to each individual.
☆Sample essay structures
Sample essay structure 1
【Main Idea】Cigarettes should be made illegal to protect younger generations and
to solve the problem of passive smoking.
【Reason 1】 Smoking harms one’s health badly.
【Reason 2】 The number of those who start smoking can be greatly reduced.
【Counter-counterargument】It is true that individuals have the right to
choose to do what they want to do but smoking harms other individuals and
should be restricted to protect the public good.
【Conclusion】I am convinced that cigarette smoking should be banned because it
will improve public health, especially that of the young generation.
Sample essay structure 2
【Main Idea】It is more dangerous to ban smoking than to make public totally
smoke-free.
【Reason 1】 Smoking ban would harm democracy.
【Reason 2】 Making smoking illegal would just stir the society.
【Counter-counterargument】It is true that smoking provides little
benefit and many health risks. However, the government should not force people
a lifestyle, even though it can recommend it. Also, there are measures to
protect other individuals from secondhand smoke.
【Conclusion】Even though objectively it does no good, smoking should stay legal.
Your Sample Essay Structure
【Main Idea = Outline】 I agree/disagree with --- because …
【Reason 1】
【Reason 2】
【Counterargument-treatment】It is true that smoking provides little
benefit and a great deal of health risk / I partly agree with the feeling that that
individuals should be free to smoke cigarettes if they choose to do so.
However, …
【Conclusion = Wrap-up】
☆ Essay for Ideas and Expressions
The family of a heavy smoker lose him twice. Long before he dies of a disease related to this unhealthy habit,
when they realize that they cannot persuade him to quit smoking, they start a
silent but desperate mourning of his premature death. It is grinding to watch your
beloved harm himself every day. Still, this is actually a minor aspect of the
tragedy of tobacco. Even though it might be difficult to ban smoking because of
smokers’ feelings and economic circumstances, cigarettes should be made illegal
to solve the problem of second-hand smoke and to protect younger generations.
Smoking seems
to be a necessary evil and a matter of self-responsibility just like drinking
and gambling, but the problem of second-hand smoke separates it from other
indulgences. Cigarette smoke directly harms those who are around the smoker.
Children of smokers are more susceptible to respiratory diseases than those of
non-smokers. Many people are sensitive to cigarette smoke and feel ill when
they inhale it. Although separate-smoking and public smoking ban are promoted,
many smokers do not obey the rules and it is impossible to block the
contaminated air completely. Also, it is difficult to provide the evidence of unwanted
exposure to smoke once the smoker puts it off and walks away. When toxic fumes
are in public places every day, it is natural for the government to regulate
them.
Banning smoking is difficult but possible. It
seems that cigarettes stay legal because their social influence is not as big
as that of drugs and they support the economy. Cigarettes do not make the user
dangerous in the way drugs do and smokers can keep functioning in society for
decades. Also, the cigarette industry is an established part of economy and
produce tax income, so that it is very difficult to discourage the practice.
However, changes necessary for public health have occurred in the past. Cigarettes
were a replacement, advocated by the government, for chewing tobacco, which was
found to be contributing to the transmission of tuberculosis through saliva
spat on the ground by the users. The government can make smoking illegal if
there is a will to protect public health.
By making smoking illegal, the number of
those who start smoking can be greatly reduced. Smokers find it difficult, and
many of them believe it unnecessary, to quit smoking even though it has been
scientifically proved that smoking causes lung cancer and other diseases. This
is because smoking is addictive. When some toxic substance is addictive, making
it illegal is one of the effective ways to reduce its harm. This is especially
effective in preventing those who are not addicted, mostly the young, from
initiating the habit, since people usually stay away from things that are
illegal.
Smoking seriously
harms non-smokers as well as smokers, and this ends the discussion on freedom
of choice. To protect the health of citizens, especially younger generations, society
is ultimately to be totally cigarette smoke-free although care should be taken for
smokers and those involved in the industry.
