The Smoking Debate Essay Research Paper The

The Smoking Debate Essay, Research Paper The anti-smoking debate is one surrounded by much controversy and coverage, but with slightly lacking in relevant documentation. Although there are many smokers out there who feel that their rights are being ignored, they will not speak out due to the public outrage against Pig-headed Smokers and the like. This has meant that I have had some difficulty in finding articles that are pro-smoking. The first article that I am analyzing is Tobacco attack smokescreen for vested interests , first published in The Times of London, but reprinted in The Australian on the eighth of March this year. This article is both anti-smoking and anti-drinking, and it uses the smoking debate to make a lengthy introduction to the second contention. The

article begins by talking about the sponsorship of Formula One racing by tobacco companies. At the start of the article, the author Simon Barnes is discussing the launch of a new tobacco sponsored motoring team, British American Tobacco. He describes the debate with the members coughing and spluttering on their own self-righteousness , a parody on the common view of smokers as sick and choking individuals. This sheds a light of comedy on the issue, and allows people from both sides to relax into the article. The next paragraph brings the main contention of the first half of the article into the light. The most evil thing on earth is tobacco sponsorship in sport. This is a theme that has been very popular over the past few months, and it is no surprise to find it here. This

sentence brings us to believe that the author is anti-smoking, but this belief is then dashed by So I have read, anyway. This sentence supports the previous sentence, by telling us that it is written, but makes the point that he does not believe it. Also, by avoiding a firm statement it keeps the article light-hearted. It is difficult to respond negatively to that statement from either view, as it is neither confirming nor denying the fact, but merely presenting an issue and editorializing it. In the sixth paragraph the author changes his tone. By asking the question Why is tobacco sponsorship immoral? and answering with the main arguments against smoking, using words such as dangerous, drug and addicted. These are power words, designed to shock us into a fear of the product. In

the following paragraph, Mr. Barnes gives the four main arguments against smoking. Tobacco can kill you, it shortens your life, it affects other people s health, it affects the health of the unborn. This sways us against the idea of smoking, for who could argue that these effects are good? In the eleventh paragraph, the author compares tobacco with cannabis, cocaine and LSD, in terms of the ridiculousness of sponsorship. Although in the next paragraph he dissuades us from this idea, the thought has already been planted in your mind. The overall feel of this article is that the author is knowledgeable and well-researched into his area of writing, and that we are hearing this information from a friend: he maintains an easy and relaxed atmosphere throughout the entire piece. The

second article that I am analyzing, Welcome to nicotine nirvana is by Philip Broughton of The Daily Telegraph. This article was reprinted in the Sunday Age, on the 10th of January. This article is the closest that I have found to pro-smoking. The opening sentence is New York s draconian anti-smoking laws bring out the anarchist in even the most mild-mannered of visitors. Most notable in this paragraph is the reference to the laws being described as draconian. This sets the scene for the rest of the article: Poor smokers being oppressed by the evil government. This setting is followed further by the description of visitors as anarchists fighting for their right to smoke. Further down, in the fifth paragraph, the article actively promotes smoking. The message is simple: you can say