The smoking epidemic in America has been prevalent for years. Many people have died or faced serious health issues as a result of choosing to smoke. For some it is a casual activity and for others it has become an addiction. The leading cause of this addiction is the nicotine drug found in cigarettes. Many people are unaware of how addictive this drug is and by the time they are educated about nicotine's dangers they are already addicted. When smoked, many people argue that cigarettes will just ruin your lungs, but they do much more than that. When a cigarette is smoked the nicotine is absorbed into your blood and then transported to the organs in your body, which is harmful. Due to the smoking of cigarettes, almost 5 million lives are lost each year. This alarming number has proven that there is not enough information being given to the public to educate people of the extreme risk of smoking. Therefor how can we as a society increase education regarding the risk of smoking.

This research question is very interesting to me because I feel that there is a lot more the people can do to inform society and make a difference. I found this subject especially interesting when I read Mahaveer Golechha's article which stated that at the current rate of smoking related deaths, the numbers are predicted to double within the next decade. As for me I am against smoking since I have seen people close to me be affected. I have watched family members use smoking as a crutch to calm their nerves after they faced hard times. This quick fix to make them feel better resulted in an even longer process to quit which makes you ask the question, is smoking even worth it? Since many are against the use of cigarettes, it causes strains on people's relationships with people such as their parents, friends, and family. Watching a loved one become addicted to cigarettes is sad and makes you want to do all you can to get them to realize how harmful making the choice to smoke. I believe I would be qualified to write about this subject because of the research I have done so far and my personal experiences regarding the subject. 

In the first chapter of the American Cancer Society's book, Kicking Butts, it talks about the effects of nicotine and how it is detrimental. It also explains why someone would choose to smoke, excuses used to not quit smoking, and emphasizing it is possible to quit smoking. It is evident that the purpose of this book is to encourage smokers to quit. This chapter educates current smokers on symptoms they may face when they begin to quit along with different ideas of how one could begin the process of quitting and the tools available. Although there is not one author, the book is written by the American Cancer Society which has done extensive research on smoking and its effects of the human body since it is a leading cause to lung cancer.

The second article I found discusses the experiment which tested how the use of cigarettes on TV promotes the usage to the younger generations watching. Kids watch the shows and see their favorite actors smoking and thinking from it that it must be "cool" or not as harmful since the actors smoke. They tested their experiment on rural American adolescents. The central claim of the article is that adolescents who witness actors from their TV's smoking cigarettes are more likely to believe it's okay to smoke without knowing the full consequences. This article states a potential cause for the issue but does not directly state an argument.

Lastly I found another article regarding smoking address the effects smoking has on the human body but also discusses the different programs in effect to try to educate and have people quit smoking. An example is the program A Stop Smoking in Schools Trial which is set up to educate kids secondary school of the risk. It was proven from this one program that both students and adults were impacted from the program which proves it is possible to educate society about smoking and to have a positive impact. The sources are represented fairly in this article and used effectively by Golechha to make the argument that prevention and ending smoking all together is possible. These sources are credible because of the references listed at the end of the article come from credible sources and the article is recent making the facts presented up to date.

This research question is arguable because there is no way to tell how or why people at young ages decide to smoke and could argue how we could effectively educate adolescents to prevent them from smoking. A flaw in my research question is that even people who are addicted to smoking can still see that smoking is bad for them but decide not to quit because they believe it would be impossible. Another issue my question is faced by is the fact that the tobacco industry is so large and poses a threat on educating the public. With society trying to educate the public to quit smoking this means the tobacco industry would see a significant sales drop and they would never want that. In order to revise my question, I believe I should find more articles with differing sides instead of articles just presenting research. I can focus my research on articles relating to the health perspective, aesthetic response, and issues involving the cigarette industry.

