America Needs a Complete Smoking Ban Essay -- Should smoking be banned

Approximately 7,500 infants die due to sudden infant death syndrome due to exposure of secondhand smoke in America (â€Å"American Lung Association†). Children all over the United States are unwillingly exposed to parental secondhand smoke in public, in cars, and at home. When children are exposed to secondhand smoke, many develop life threatening diseases later in life as a result of that exposure. In the United States, smoking should be banned while in the presence of children. Children’s lungs are vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke, and this can cause serious problems down the road. Some states have already banned smoking in public and others are in the process. Secondhand smoke exposure has the possibility of causing nicotine dependence in adolescent (nicotine dependence in Children). Secondhand smoke can cause diseases in the lungs of children which can be long-term. There are three examples of diseases in children that include asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia. Asthma, being the most common, is a chronic disorder which causes the host to cough, wheeze, have a shortness of breath, and chest pains (â€Å"WebMd† Asthma.) Living with asthma is very common; many people can live perfectly normal lives with the disease. Another illness caused by secondhand smoking is COPD. Symptoms include COPD flare ups, shortness of breath, buildup of mucus, weight loss, and in some cases the host’s skin will turn a shade of blue. There are four stages to COPD which are mild, moderate, serious, and very serious in which the symptoms progressively become worse as you go from stage to stage ("WebMd COPD.") A third disease is pneumonia which violently attacks the respiratory system. Symptoms include rapid ... ...ndhand Smoke." American Lung Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "COPD Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . "Pneumonia Symptoms and types." WebMd. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. . Bell, Kirsten, Salmon Amy, and Darlene McNaughton. "Smoking around children and childhood overnutrition." 19.2 (2009): 15. Web. 2 Mar. 2015. "second-hand smoke may trigger nicotine dependence symptoms in kids." NewsRx Health & Science 19 Oct. 2008: 195. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.