step 4-peer feedback

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Article Review
The article discusses the dangers of smoking. It states that smoking is one of the major causes of chronic diseases in the United States. Further, it insists that nearly all the deaths that are caused by smoke-related diseases can be prevented. Usually, the extent of the diseases caused by smoking is dependent on the amount of time the individual has been smoking. While how much an individual smokes could be an important factor, it does not have a great significance regarding the extent of the related diseases. In this regard, the article posits that most of these diseases could be prevented if parents could take the initiative to prevent their young children from engaging in smoking (Harvey et al. 209). In other words, if young adults can be prevented from smoking by the time they attain the age of 25 years, there is a high possibility that most of the smoking-related diseases could be prevented. Primarily, when young people engage in smoking, they become the heaviest smokers. This means that there is a very high chance for these people to develop cancer. It also implies that most cases of cancer could, therefore, be prevented if young people do not get into smoking. According to the article, at least one-third of the young people who drink are likely to die of smoking-related diseases. This amounts to about 5.6 million young adults who are under the age of eighteen years. The figure implies that smoking is a serious issue that needs to be addressed with a high level of urgency.

The article states that to eradicate smoking, federal laws should be implemented. While this would be an effective measure, it would be more effective if it was integrated with social measures such as parental involvement (Harvey et al. 212). This measure ought to be included the article to improve the submission. The article states that raising the age of tobacco purchase to 25 years is one of the federal and state laws that should be implemented. At the moment, any person who has attained the age of 18 in the United States is allowed to buy cigarettes. This law could be partially effective since it will limit the number of people under the age of 25 years who purchase cigarettes. However, it would not fully address the problem since they could still get the cigarettes from other people who can legally purchase them (Chapman, 6). The article would be more improved if it considered the possibility of underages getting cigarettes from other sources (such as friends or relatives). If the age of being allowed to buy cigarettes is raised to 21, this is tipped to have an effect of reducing smoking by about12%. Consequently, the number of deaths will be lower by about 10%. Further, if the age of being allowed to purchase cigarettes is raised to 25, it is estimated that there will be about 249,000 fewer deaths which are related to tobacco smoking.
Further, the taxes on cigarettes can be increased. This will effectively increase the price of cigarettes hence making it less affordable to most people. Ideally, the majority of the youths below the age of 18 years do not have their source of income. They mostly depend on their parents and guardians for the survivor. Increasing taxes will significantly reduce the number of smokers not only among young people but also among adults. The article could, however, be stronger if it assessed the effects of increasing tax on the national economy versus the cost of health care related to smoke-related diseases (Ekpu & Brown, 15). In other words, a cost-benefit analysis would have been effective if it was included in this section. However, it has rightly suggested that increasing taxes would decrease the number of smokers and hence the number of related deaths.
Works Cited
Chapman Simon. “When is a smoker an adult? Why we shouldn’t raise the legal smoking age to,” theconversation.com, 30 Mar 2016, https://theconversation.com/when-is-a-smoker-an-adult-why-we-shouldnt-raise-the-legal-smoking-age-to-21-56985. Accessed 16 Nov. 2018.
Ekpu, Victor U and Abraham K Brown. “The Economic Impact of Smoking and of Reducing Smoking Prevalence: Review of Evidence” Tobacco use insights vol. 8 1-35. 14 Jul. 2015, doi:10.4137/TUI.S15628 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4502793/
Harvey, Johanne et al. “Preventing smoking in children and adolescents: Recommendations for practice and policy” Paediatrics & child health vol. 21,4 (2016): 209-2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4934164/