Keep calm and quit smoking (Problem/Solution Essay)

Despite the constanst advertising and awareness campaigns against it, smoking is still one of the biggest problems for public health and the first cause of death in the world. The numbers speak for themselves: 140 people die in one day in Spain because of tobacco, the product that most diseases and deaths causes in the majority of the developed countries, and that could be prevented. Unfortunately, nobody seems to care about this situation. On television we just hear about deaths by traffic accidents or contagious diseases, when it is actually smoking the main cause of mortality in our society. Tobacco companies, on their behalf, represent a pressure for the governments and health authorities, creating thousands of victims every year, so it is difficult to find solutions.

Nevertheless, there are things we can do. One possible solution could be to restrict (even) more the number of places where smoking is allowed, but this remedy would be criticised, problematic and complicated to lay it down, since it is already forbidden almost everywhere, and the cure would be worse than the disease. Another remedy is to make stricter punishments for those who break the smoking ban laws, for instance, by imposing higher penalty fees. However, it would be very difficult to control everybody everywhere, and there would be still many people infringing this law.

A final solution can be to increase the taxes and price of tobacco, as when its price rises, not only is the number of people who smoke reduced but it also prevents many from starting cigarette consumption, especially at very young ages. This is probably the most effective way to dissuade smokers and restrain its use, and it is accepted normally quite well by everyone, even smokers, because, at the end, we all know how damaging smoking is.