One of the biggest and most problematic health problems in our society is smoking. Smoking is currently the leading cause of death in our country, due to its harmful and addictive contents, such as nicotine and tobacco. Although millions of people die every year, smoking is also the most preventable cause of death. Without smoking, an enormous amount of money and human lives would be saved. I think our country should ban smoking and cigarette manufacturing to maintain a healthier nation, help save the environment, and prevent the nearly 1,000 deaths that fires cause every year. My first topic is the risks and health problems caused by smoking tobacco. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Smoking costs the United States more than $150 billion a year in healthcare costs. They cause approximately 443,000 deaths each year. They cause many different types of cancer such as chronic lung disease, emphysema, bronchitis and heart disease. Smoking causes many other types of cancer, including cancers of the throat, mouth, nasal cavity, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix, and even leukemia has been found linked to smoke. Additionally, people who smoke have a heart attack risk up to six times greater than non-smokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. Smoking also causes most cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Additionally, approximately 49,400 deaths were due to exposure to secondhand smoke. Every year, 3,000 non-smoking adults die from diseases caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. My second topic is the impact smoking has on the environment. Nearly 600 million forest trees are destroyed each year to provide… half the paper… more than twice as likely as young non-smokers to become smokers. Over 90% of adult smokers started smoking when they were teenagers. A 2001 survey found that 69.4 percent of teen smokers reported never having been given proof of age when purchasing cigarettes at a store. The same survey found that 62.4% were allowed to purchase cigarettes even when the retailer was aware that they were under the age of eighteen. Cigarette smoking is very harmful to both smokers and non-smokers and to the environment. People who smoke simply demonstrate how inconsiderate they are towards others. Even people who don't smoke in public places are selfish. They don't consider the effect smoking might have on them and how it will affect their family and environment. Cigarettes cause hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths every year and that is why they must be made illegal.