Alcohol and Tobacco Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Alcohol and Tobacco Control - Essay Example Drinking alcohol and smoking are not good for health. Both expose an individual to numerous kinds of health risks. Health risks associated with drinking alcohol include but are not limited to cirrhosis, pancreatitis, hypertension, osteoporosis, and wernicke-korsakoff syndrome. Cirrhosis is a disease in which the liver is scarred and its healthy tissue is replaced with the scarred tissue. Malfunctioning of the liver caused by this causes the build-up of bile in the blood. Pancreatitis is another disease caused by drinking alcohol that causes the inflammation of pancreas. This affects insulin production, thus causing intense abdominal pain along with nausea and fever. Hypertension is a condition in which the passage of blood through the arteries can cause the arteries’ walls to rupture, thus causing stroke or heart attack. Alcohol consumption causes loss of the bone mass, a condition known as osteoporosis, thus increasing the risk of bone fracture. Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome is a brain disorder, which causes memory loss and blurred vision in the patient. Diseases caused by smoking include lungs’ cancer, oral cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The tar contained in the tobacco deposits in the mouth, throat and lungs thus increasing the smoker’s tendency to acquire cancer. ... Drinking and smoking are addictive habits. An individual who starts drinking and smoking goes a long way to reach the stage where he/she becomes a drug addict. Particularly, smoking often happens to be the first stage in the way of becoming a drug addict for many teenagers. It leads to the consumption of cocaine, marijuana and heroine in the later stages. Smoking all these drugs has potential negative implications on both the individual’s health and social life. The risks to health include all of the diseases that have been discussed before. Risks to the social life of the individual include poor academic performance, declined efficiency in work, laziness, and social exclusion. Teenagers that become drug addicts lose interest in studies. Consequentially, there academic grades start to decline. The poor academic performance has negative repercussions on the professional career of the individual as the eligibility of a candidate for a good job is directly governed by his/her pas t academic performance. This increases the drug addict’s risk of unemployment. In addition to that drug addicts are stigmatized and are subject to humiliation and social exclusion in the long run. Since the society does not accept them, they tend to be alone and are gradually pushed into social exclusion, in which they become depressed and may end up committing suicide. Owing to the myriad of negative effects of addiction caused by drinking and smoking, they should be prohibited. Control of alcohol and tobacco is compulsory in order to keep them out of the reach of children. Children are immature and generally unaware of the negative effects of alcohol and tobacco on their health. Even if they do know the effects, they tend to underestimate them owing to their immaturity. If alcohol