"In 2010, tobacco industry's profit was equivalent to US$6,000 for each death caused by tobacco." (W.L.F). Today it is estimated that the tobacco industry profits around $35 billion each year in just America alone (Eriksen). By earning such profits, the control the industry has over many peoples lives worldwide is evident. Smoking is an addiction caused by the nicotine in the products such as cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Over the last couple decades, health institutions have been informing the government and the public of the serious side effects of smoking has on a person. As governments have become more aware the issues caused by smoking, they have begun to enforce regulations and laws regarding the tobacco industry. In order to put an end to this nasty habit, there must be a bigger emphasis on educating the public and eliminating the positive light shown on smoking. The tobacco industry does not care if people are educated about the effects of smoking because they make money once people become addicted to the nicotine; money is made every time cigarettes are purchased, people attempt to quit and buy patches, or they seek therapy. Smoking both a nasty and costly habit, yet it still occurs. If we want the numbers to lower, the tobacco industry must be held accountable. As a society, we can work towards limiting the powers that the tobacco industry has. This will hopefully put an end to smoking, a global issue controlling many people worldwide.

Focusing on America, this enormous industry began well before settlers came to North America with the Native Americans. Being one of the first crops grown in Virginia, the tobacco industry began when the products grown were used to trade with other countries in Europe and Western Africa. This fueled the North American Economy. In the earlier decades of the twentieth century, smoking was a social norm. It was something that members of high society were accustomed to and participated in when they would go out or attend events; cigarettes were solely a luxury item during the time. As Hollywood emerged, many Americans saw actors smoking in films and it was viewed in a positive light. No one during the early twentieth century focused on, or really knew about, the negative effects associated with smoking. In the 1930's researchers from Germany were able to connect smoking to cancer; this was just the beginning of the tobacco industry's fear of negative attention in society. In the 1950's articles started being published that announces the dangers and side effects of smoking. One popular article was published in Reader's Digest, titled "Cancer by the Carton", which informed the public of the dangers related to smoking. During that time, people began to question the tobacco industry thus kick starting research.

Despite the dangers of smoking, which have been widely publicized the tobacco industry has grown to be a billion-dollar industry. Today, it makes enormous annual profits and produces hundreds of different products. One main way that the tobacco industry has stayed relevant is through their advertising techniques. In just 2012 alone, "tobacco companies spent $9.6 billion marketing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in the United States alone. This amount translates to about $26 million each day, or more than $1 million every hour" (CDC).  One can find tobacco advertisements on billboards, in magazines, newspapers, in TV commercials, or other places frequently viewed by people. A way that the industry gets people to buy their products is by having initiatives to buy such as discounted prices, coupons, or free gifts. A study from 2009 to 2010 found "a strong relationship between exposure to advertisements and promotions for tobacco products and the use of tobacco among adults aged 15 years and over in India." (Palipudi). The target market for the industry has also caused many issues brought up in recent years. 

Many of the advertisements created are often viewed by younger generations, which is a large issue in itself. The younger generations may not be the ones targeted but one may ask how do we prevent them from seeing such negative health imagery. The Tobacco industry advertises to younger generations in order to get them hooked at young ages, making them customers for a long time. Children are influenced when watching TV shows: they see their favorite actors, whom they look up to, smoking. Along with young children and teens, college students are also a huge target market for the tobacco industry. With the invention of the e-cigarette, younger generations are being targeted for the the product. In a study which discussed the target market of the tobacco industry, it was shown that in the Virginia and North Carolina tobacco products were purposely marketed in close proximity to college campuses. A movement is being made in California to set an age limit on the purchase of cigarettes to twenty-one to eliminate the chances of younger people choosing to smoke. Since California is such a widely populous state, it would begin to lead the anti-tobacco movement in other states. Many lawmakers expect that by raising the legal age, many teens will have less of an opportunity to start smoking cigarettes. 

What the tobacco industry does not want you to know is the severity of the effects when deciding to smoke. Not only is it addictive but it can also lead to heart issues, lung issues, and different cancers.  It was proven by the American Cancer Society that "smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as non-smokers." (ACS) due to the complications faced by the tobacco products. For women there are different side effects that affect their chances of having children along with possibly losing their child during birth or at a young age. 

"A woman who smokes is more likely to have an ectopic pregnancy (tubal pregnancy), which can not be saved and can threaten the mother's life. Smokers are also more likely to miscarry (lose the baby) or have a lower birth-weight baby. Low birth-weight babies are more likely to die or have learning and physical problems."  -- American Cancer Society

These facts about smoking are why we need to educate the public of smoking and why the government needs to take initiative to make a change. We should not be letting people be affected in these ways. The Tobacco Industry's profits are increasing and soon the smoking related deaths will too. "Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking." (ACS). This just proves that death is coming sooner for those who decide to keep smoking and that there is a serious issue at hand which smokers need to realize.

Why is smoking still a thing? It is because people are not as informed as they should be. Many people choose to smoke for different reasons. They could be going through rough times in their lives or could be influenced by friends who smoke. Many smokers witness the effects first hand and still do not believe what could happen. They think that there is only a small chance of them being affected and that smoking occasionally is not that bad. As stated before, children and teens who are uneducated about the effects of smoking watch family members or people older than them smoke. People do not realize when they initially begin smoking the huge cost that come with the bad habit. It was shown that "disposable e-cigarette prices were the cheapest, ranging from $7.99 -- $11.99 in 2012 (mean = $9.70, SD = 1.07) to $4.99 -- $19.99 in 2013" (Nicotine & Tobacco Research). One would think that the large cost to buy cigarettes to fulfill ones addiction would be a big enough reason to quit smoking. Many people lose relationships they have with people due to smoking and for some that still is not enough to get them to quit.Interesting arguments have been made stating that the statistic related to the tobacco industry are blown out of proportion. An article written by James D. Torr debated if smoking really has the extreme effects that many think it does. Torr made very good points backed up by government research that allowed the reader to see a different side of the smoking debate. He stated a fact that, "The average age in these deaths is thirty-nine, according to CDC data, compared with seventy-two for "tobacco-related" deaths." From this it brings up the discussion of if smoking actually does shorten people's life spans since most of smoking's related deaths happen at later ages. He argues against "smoking is an addiction and that nicotine is a dangerous drug" which many believe. To back up his claim he compared a smoking "addiction" to one's addiction to heroin and how the side effects are so much worse. Yes, many say smoking is an "addiction" but when you compare the addiction to nicotine with the addiction to heroin and other hard drugs it does not seem nearly as bad. Also he discusses how maybe the issue of smoking is being blown up so large so companies make money not only from the tobacco industry but also in serving people who need help with their "addiction". The American Cancer Society stated that "Tobacco is also a risk factor for the four leading non-communicable diseases (NCDs)  --  cancer, heart disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases  --  which account for more than 63% of global deaths according to the World Health Organization." (ACS). This basically says that from smoking tobacco those diseases would be likely to happen but its not a guarantee showing that many statistics given by the government are not always 100% true.

With all of the negative press regarding the tobacco industry in recent years we have seen a slight decline in the sales of tobacco products. Many different companies and businesses across the United States have begun making movements to influence others to quit smoking. For example, in an article produced by CVS it announced to its customers that they will no longer carry cigarette products or sell them in their stores. The company is aware that by ending the sales of cigarettes it will affect their sales but as a company they believe it is the right thing to do to promote a smoke free approach. It also informs us how some states have already banned tobacco sales and that CVS is making a large influential step. 

In another study it was discussed how certain grocery stores were joining in on ending their selling of tobacco products. In that article it focused on how in recent years some retailers have decided based on personal preference and morals to go tobacco free. Many of grocery stores researched, who had decided to remove tobacco products, saw a positive trend and hoped to be a good influence on people who were current smokers and motivating them to quit. An interesting point made was ''if [smokers] have to go and search for something, chances are they're not going to want to buy it. ... The harder you make it for them, ... they're going to change their mind, [asking themselves] 'Do I really need that cigarette?''' (McDaniel). The owners of the stores also saw that by eliminating tobacco products from their shelves they then appealed to a different market of customers and were able to offer more products. One store owner I was willing to do it and made the valid point that "it would be like you working and making ... $200,000 a year, and you liked your job, but your boss said, ''Listen. As part of your job, from now on you're going to have to maybe kill a person every once in a while.'' ... And you say, ''You know what? I love my job, but it is just I do not feel comfortable doing that, so I am going to quit that job, and I am going to get a job and make less.''" (McDaniel). It is great to see that in the past decade tobacco sales have been slowly declining but that is not enough to limit the tobacco industries powers over society. Some states have begun raising purchase price of tobacco products/tobacco taxes in hopes to steer people away from purchasing tobacco. In one article it showed "One hundred eleven cities and counties have banned tobacco sales in close proximity to schools [25], several towns, cities, counties, and states have raised the legal age of tobacco purchase above 18 [26 -- 28], and two California cities and numerous Massachusetts municipalities have banned tobacco sales in pharmacies [29]." (McDaniel). Another proposal to help people quit smoking was discussed in an article by NBC News where people thought they could be paid to quit smoking. The idea was that someone with a tobacco addiction would bet money that they could quit and earn back twice the money they had bet. "Only 6 percent of those who got counseling and stop-smoking aids were able to quit. But 12 to 14 percent of those in the rewards groups were able to quit for six months or more." (NBC). From this pilot study we can see that by motivating smokers with a reward to quit can be much more successful than the traditional steps made to quit.

The tobacco industry makes money from when they get individuals hooked to the very end when people are trying to break away from the nasty habit. A question many ask is why is it possible for the tobacco industry to be so profitable on such an awful social issue. From the day one starts to smoke and gets addicted the industry has control over you. For years one may smoke and waste thousands of dollars but they do not realize when they start the troubles they will face in the end when deciding to quit. When quitting people who struggle will decide to purchase nicotine patches or if worse comes to worse pay for therapy sessions. Advertisements created by the tobacco industry are made for different target markets. For the most part young people are targeted because they are the ones the tobacco wants to have hooked early. The government does not do enough when educating the public about the health risk. What we as a society can first focus on is the question why smoking is still relevant? By answering this question, we can focus on how we can create programs to help those who want to quit. As seen in the articles many companies and businesses have begun to make changes by themselves without being told to by the government. It wasn't until the past decade that restaurants began to ban the smoking sections in their businesses. If the government were to impose more rules regarding the tobacco industry, we would see much more significant drops in tobacco sales and a drop in smoking related deaths. If we want the numbers to lower, the tobacco industry must be held accountable. As a society, we can work towards limiting the powers that the tobacco industry has which will hopefully someday put an end to this global issue controlling so many people worldwide.

