Jeffrey+L’s+Final+AmEx+2014+Speech

=Title of Speech= Want a Smoke?

=Text of Speech=  Today, my topic will be about cigarettes and the harmful effects of second-hand smoking. I know, I know, many of you have already heard this kind of lecture from teachers or parents in the past, but today, I just want to reiterate and rant a bit about the idiocy of smoking.

 Smoking is plain stupid. However, my main point here isn’t about the amount of damage that first-hand smoking can do to someone; it’s about the amount of damage that someone inflicts onto others through second-hand smoking. I could really care less about what people want to do to their bodies, but I get really irritated when others are dragged into this mess. Each year, second hand smoking is responsible for over 45,000 deaths caused by heart disease or lung cancer. In addition, second-hand smoking is accountable for over 150,000 lower respiratory tract infections in children under the ages of 18 months. This is all caused by idiots who can’t keep off their nicotine addiction. In fact, why do cigarettes even exist in the first place? They serve absolutely no beneficial purpose and they destroy the lives of those who use them. I understand that they are very valuable in the marketing world, but is all that money really worth it?

 I have two uncles who are smokers. I’m only going to talk about one of them because he is a good guy, or rather, he was. He was a very funny and sociable uncle, but unfortunately, he always smells of tobacco. With my asthma, I can’t stand being around smokers and whenever I would visit his family, I would always distance myself from him. Smoking doesn’t help with anything; smoking only causes problems.

 Smoking is stupid, and if you smoke, then at least go smoke in front of a ventilator because no one wants cancer from your addiction. It is fine to be an idiot by yourself, but don’t try to drag others down with you. It can even be said that smoking is more dangerous to the people around than to the individual because the number of people inhaling this toxin far exceeds the single individual who is doing it for his or her own pleasure. If second-hand smoking was not harmful, then be my guest and smoke all you want. But since it is harmful, it is not acceptable.

 It disgusts me, as an American citizen, to see people with forsaken faces lighting a cigarette on the corner of a street. It disgusts me, as a teenager, to see children running and playing around while someone is lighting a cigarette right next to them. It disgusts me, as a bystander, to not be able to do anything except walk away when someone is lighting a cigarette near me.

 I have a guilty conscience too. Whenever I walk past an individual, who is smoking, I cover my nose to prevent inhalation of most of the smoke. But by doing this, I also feel as if I am being rude and that I am making a grand gesture indicating to that person that I strongly dislike them. Even though more than half of that is true, I still feel uneasy letting those gestures out. My morals tell me that I should keep all ugly thoughts and actions to myself, but how am I to deal with this situation?

 I believe the social media plays a big role in this nicotine-addiction matter. Famous celebrities who are smoking a big fat one may influence naïve individuals to do the same. It’s not “cool” or “hip”; it’s complete imprudence from both the celebrities and their victims. Please, save your naivety for something worthwhile.

 Now, I have been thinking and decided to view this subject from both perspectives. The only other reason why I would think individuals would start smoking other than from “people influence” is their inability to cope with whatever type of stress are on their shoulders. Of course, the sensible thing here to do would be to seek help from others, but in reality, not many do that. If you are so intent on trying to drown away your sorrows yourself, go to a bar and drink to your heart’s content. No one is really being harmed by your drinking, granted that you don’t get into fights or try to drive a car of course. That’s a totally different matter. But a stationary drunk man is much better than a man armed with a lit cigarette. My main point here is that there is no reason to start smoking. There is no reason to have to ruin others’ lives just so your own pleasure is satisfied. Therefore, there should be no reason second-hand smoking should exist, but it does. It exists from thoughtless people who decide to light their cigarettes, one by one, day after day.

 I know all of you will probably never even consider touching a cigarette in your life, hopefully. And this message is aimed primarily at those gullible enough to believe anything, but this is still a message nonetheless that I would like to get out. In the America that I want to grow old in, I want to see less adults sulking around on the streets with a cigarette between their fingers. I want to hear not the hideous smoker’s cough as I walk down the sidewalk, but the sound of a cheerful conversation. I want to smell not the foul smell of cancer, but the smell of anything else.

 I’m sure you all get my point, but let me just reiterate. I don’t care what you do to your body, but harming another’s body is not something that should be tolerated. Smoking falls into this no-no category and I greatly despise smokers causing second-hand smoking for others. So once again, please, don’t smoke. Don’t cause unnecessary trouble for others. Thank you.

=Cite Your Sources= http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke