Poisonous, addictive, yet not banned

My sister is dying from complications from COPD. She was a smoker most of her life. My mother died of complications from COPD. She smoked most of her life. My grandfather died from throat cancer. He was a lifelong smoker. That’s three generations of my family dead or dying from smoking tobacco.

My family’s illnesses and deaths were preventable. Smoking tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., causing more than 440,000 deaths annually. Tobacco smoke is a toxic mix of poisons unlike anything else. According to the American Cancer Society, cigarette smoke is made up of thousands of chemicals, including at least 70 known to cause cancer, like arsenic, lead, cyanide and formaldehyde. It should have been banned decades ago.

Not only is tobacco smoke full of poisonous chemicals, it includes nicotine, one of the most addictive substances in the world. According to the Cleveland Clinic, nicotine is as addictive as cocaine or heroin, perhaps even more so.

So why do we tolerate this addictive poison being sold? We all are paying for the illnesses, deaths, and lost productivity caused by smoking. In 2018, cigarette smoking cost the U.S. more than $600 billion in healthcare expenses and lost productivity. To put these costs in perspective, the U.S. national defense budget for 2023 was $816 billion.

If an American company sold a product that included as one if its ingredients heroin, or cocaine, or fentanyl, would the government allow that product to be sold? Isn’t it time this addictive poison was banned?

David Zacchei, Wethersfield