In our country today there is a serious problem plaguing families and people everywhere. This problem is alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction, and it is not something that will go away. According to many sources this problem can cause many implications and can casue severe harm to those it touches(Venturrelli 222). And one of the main problems with the disease of alcoholism, is that it does not effect just the drinkers, but everyone who cares about them. It is seen as impossible to ever cure all situations of alcohol abuse, but is possible to help those who have a problem and to try and prevent others from becoming addicted. Most poeple do not realize what they are getting themselves into when they drink, and some who do drink never engage in aproblem. But there are also people who have a disorder in their genes, and those are the ones who have the most serious problems. Alcohol abuse can skip generations in families and show up only in one or two family members every couple of generations(Martin 676). What this means is that Jane’s(fictious name) great- grandfather may ahve been an alcoholic and no one else in the family will have a problem, and then Jane begins to have a problem. It is impossible to predict who this disease will strike, but when it does it strikes very hard and very deadly. Many times alcohol abuse begins as just ahving a good time, throughout high school I drank a lot and I enjoyed it. I don’t think a week went by that I didn’t drink at least four times a week, but I never let it get out of control and I knew my limits and when to quit for the night. When I got in to college things cahnged, I still drink but my priorities became more clear and I know when to draw the line. There are a lot of people that never got to experiment in high school and they got to college and really screwed up. Many people can not react well with alcohol in their bodies and that is where a problem starts with them. A main area of alcohol abuse is in ‘greek’ organizations, I’m not saying that they are bad because there are amny non- ‘greek’ that drink, but these organizations help many to have access to alcohol.
Smoking In Public Places
Tobacco: Smoking In Public
There are many controversial topics on the minds of Americans today such as abortion, the use of handguns and one of the most controversial topics is smoking in public. There are many things that can happen when you smoke, for example, causing air pollution, causing diseases in nonsmokers and finally causing harm to smokers themselves.
Tobacco smoke is killing thousands of people every year and injuring hundreds of thousands more every day like children. Federal officials released a massive report that is sparking renewed efforts to ban smoking in public places. Secondhand smoke has been classified as known carcinogen, this classification is only shared by ten other pollutants.(These pollutants include benzene, asbestos and smoke inhaled directly from cigarettes. Govenor Mario Cuomo has asked the Legislature to outlaw smoking on school grounds and antismoking advocates said they would target airlines and fast food chains for similar bans.
The risk of developing lung cancer due to tobacco smoke is 1 in 1,000 for nonsmokers and 2 in 1,000 for nonsmoking spouses of smokers. However, the risk for smokers is 70 in every 1,000.
Passive smoking causes between 150,000 and 300,000 cases of bronchitis, pneumoia and similar infections in children less than 18 months old and worsens the condition of between 200,000 and 1 million asthmatic children. It is pointless to allow people to smoke in one part of a restaurant and not to allow it in another when eventuallly the nonsmoking section breathes in the smoke.
In conclusion, second hand smoke is a human carcinogen that kills about 3,000 U.S. nonsmokers because of lung cancer annually. Cigarette smoke is responsible ffor 150,000 to 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia and other lower respiratory infections in children up to 18 months of age.