Why Quit Smoking?

You have seen all of the public service ads that try to persuade people to quit smoking.

They feature all kinds of unattractive photographs of people whose fingers are stained with nicotine after years and years of smoking.

People whose mouths are ringed with wrinkles from decades and decades of puffing away on cigarettes. Some of these ads show medical photographs of damaged hearts, lungs, and arteries.

But you're not persuaded to quit smoking yet. Why should you?

Big brother

Many people who are staunch believers in a person's individual rights are convinced that all the new rules and regulations that prevent people from smoking indoors, in bars and restaurants, and within a certain number of yards of specific buildings are nothing more than Big Brother trampling on the rights of the common man.

Many people wonder what business it is of the government's whether a person decides to quit smoking or not. Many also wonder if this is just another part of a slippery slope; for example, if you let the government start tell you what to do with little things, like quit smoking, where does it stop?

Soon the government and that group mentality will be trying to tell you what to do and how to live in all sorts of invasive ways.

It's my body

In this day and age, with all of the rules and regulations about medical issues, another reason people decide not to quit smoking is that they feel they have a right to treat their own bodies as they see fit. These people are not asking anyone to take care of them, they're not asking anyone to pay for their cigarettes.

As long as they're not smoking around small children, who's to force them to quit smoking at all? Let's face it, everyone will die of something someday. So why make such a big deal about making people quit smoking?

For people who have health insurance or have the financial ability to keep up with their medical expenses, they may consider it unnecessarily invasive to have this sort of thing dictated to them.

It's my money

You work hard for your money. You pay taxes. Why shouldn't you spend your money as you see fit. If you don't want to quit smoking and can afford to pay almost $5 for a pack of cigarettes, it's no one's business but yours. You keep a roof over your family's head. Your property is well kept.

You show up for work every day, vote, and give blood. So, you think, who do these people think they are to tell you that you should quite smoking? All told, people who don't want to quit smoking have a number of arguments to be made about why they shouldn't have to if they don't want to.

Some may object to government interference in their lives, others may feel that their body is their own and they can treat it as they like, while still others believe that they've earned their money, so if they can afford to smoke and they can afford their healthcare, why quit smoking if they don't really want to.

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