Sociology

Introduction
Smoking is injurious to health  even though this prohibition or warning flares from sleek cigarette packs all over the world, the tobacco abuse rates are consistent, if not on the rise. Today, smoking implies burning and inhalation of more substances than just tobacco. The recreational drug abuse or the intake of drugs, such as cocaine and opium, is included in the meaning of the term smoking. It started to be associated with adolescence and stress. However, the world society is now widely facing the problem of passive smoking and lung cancer. As stated by Warner (1986) in order to work towards the society free of seductive enticements the awareness and the prohibition methods must be applied. Considering the problem of addiction from the perspective of discrimination highlights the pros and cons associated with the vice.

The Pros
According to Scott D. Balun, the vice president and legislative counsel of the American Heart Association, to use the industrys (tobacco) own rhetoric, Enough is enough, is in fact, balancing on the flip side of the coin. The need to address the named problem within the industry also resounds in the society as a whole. Though the fact remains that smoking kills millions of lives each year, another supportive aspect is the free promotion of the vice  on the celluloid, idiot box and even the backstage coverage of the international ramps. The deliberation in support of the vice completely spotlights the statistics that reveal 390,000 deaths annually due to the vice, in the US alone. The easy access and stress related needs of the adolescents the world over makes the advertising themes of the tobacco industry pretty alluring. The widespread coverage via jingles and advertisements in magazines, newspapers and billboards has given the vice such epithets  seductive, successful and even sophisticated. Considering the kind of stress that challenges the youth, the advertising code encourages them to take up the vice in a way. Smoking is also considered a good psychological escape for self-expression and most of the time a conditioned reflex (Dichter 1947). The need to feel rewarded, be accepted by peers and to handle stress are among the many reasons, enumerated by enthusiasts during clinical research.

Cons
Even though tobacco companies are often suited, it is broadly accepted that the governments should take steps to reduce the demand for the product the addiction to which is harmful to the human health through ad restrictions (Arthur B. Spitzer). This comes mainly from the fact that drug, tobacco and other powdered substances abuse results in the development of several life threatening diseases and premature death.  These are life threatening consequences that the society at large does not accept, and rightly so. If you take the cigarette smoking as such, it is evident how addictive smoking is.

Understanding this development it is mandatory for the society to question the availability of the product. It is imperative to regulate the product manufacturing and sales rates to uproot and curb the vice. The prohibition on advertising and promotion of cigarettes is a start with momentum that totally depends on increased public awareness. Today, the youth all around the world is succumbing to the feud between the political and economic paradigms around the cigarette smoking. It is high time that the more aware take a stand and address the related health and welfare issues. The education on statistics and rehab scenarios from within the walls of the medical fraternity screams out facts and figures everyday. According to the WHO, 1.8 million men and 0.3 million women in developing countries and 1.6 and 0.5 million respectively from industrialized nations succumb to the vice each year (httpwww.who.inttobaccoenatlas11.pdf, 17.35-25.2.2010). With researched statistics, such as this there is no doubt that the vice has become a global concern today.

The increased profit at the risk of threatening the public health is an arena the educated people need to question. Gone are the post World War II and Cold War societies where we could blame it all on trances andor spirituality. Irrespective of the pressure or stress that are identified as trigger factors in adopting the vice, health care is a human right and the passivesmokers certainly deserve better.