Will Cigarettes Ever Be Banned?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/24/opinion/greene-cigarettes/index.html?hpt=op_bn8

            Cigarettes and tobacco have been legal to use in America since it’s founding in 1776.  The first pushes to ban cigarettes came in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Since banning cigarettes has proven to be very unlikely, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) attempted to make it mandatory to have graphic pictures of black lungs or tracheotomies on the cover of cigarette containers.  These proposals were denied by congress due to the fact that it violated free speech rights. The FDA is trying to speak out for the roughly 443,000 who die each year because of use of this product. So now the question is raised. Will cigarettes ever be illegal? 

            My answer: not in our lifetime. The reasons are numerous and are very hard to argue against. Around a fifth of adults in America smoke; any politician would be mad to try and take away what so many people love and “need”.  The government of America may also be against the ban of this product even if it does harm this many people. Billions of tax dollars are brought in each year and taxes increase on this product annually.  Another thought that would scare legislature from banning cigarettes: Prohibition. We all know that the banning of alcohol was very ugly. It hurt America and only led to it being sold illegally without tax. All these reasons for not being able to ban this harmful item leave very little hope for trying to save many lives. Currently, the only option is to try and raise awareness of the dangerous causes of cigarette smoking.