Cigarette Smoking Persuasive Essay: The Last Puff

The Last Puff

Should people be paid to hurt themselves? That is what happens when employees have a smoke break. Smoking can damage an individual in many ways and can even lead to death. Taking a puff during the job is an inappropriate use of an employer’s time. Also, it creates an unequal environment in the workplace between coworkers. People should not be able to take smoke breaks while working because it harms the human body, wastes time in the workplace, and is unjust to the non-smokers.

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 out of every 100 adults in the United States smoked in the year 2015 (“Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States”). That is a great deal of adults in the United States and is one of the leading causes of death in the United States as well. The CDC also says, “Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or 1 of every 5 deaths” (“Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States”). Tobacco has been around for a long time and there is

Nonsmokers claim that it is unfair for smokers to get extra breaks for their addiction, however, smokers defend themselves saying that their smoking habit is a disability. Matthew Allan wrote a paper concerning electronic cigarettes and how they would fit into the workplace. Allan argued how the smoking could be considered a disability, “Enactment of the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act (ADAAA) significantly expanded the ADA’s definition of disability. Since passage of the ADAAA in 2008, no lawsuit has challenged the prevailing belief that nicotine addiction is not a disability under the law” (Allan 2). Some smokers defend themselves by showing how smoking is considered a disability because nicotine addiction is considered a disability under the