Tobacco Regulations, At Last

With the increase in death by consumption of cigarette smoke and other tobacco related products, an Op-Ed columnist from the New York Times states that the Senate has finally decided to increase tobacco regulations. After more than ten years of struggle between anti-tobacco activists and large tobacco companies, a compromise in tobacco policy has at last put some activists at ease. Though this bill approved by the senate will not cut the production of tobacco products entirely, the op-ed columnist describes this bill as “An enormous victory for public health”. Though this bill is not perfect, the op-ed columnist commends the fact that it could order a reduction in nicotine levels, elimination of other harmful ingredients, and cut the tobacco advertising driven towards children and teens entirely.

The arguments and statements of the author are fact based and well researched, but one could assume that the author over-exaggerates some of his points, thus providing a false encouragement to the public. Though this bill is a positive step in the right direction, the author seems to praise its contents to the point that he or she comes across biased. One can establish from this article that the author is very “anti-tobacco” and has some strong thoughts on the distribution and consumption of tobacco products. The author uses harsh words and phrases when he or she describes tobacco companies as “manipulative” and “deceitful” as though to convince the readers that what he is saying is true, without a second argument from the tobacco companies themselves. The author’s persuasion is made complete when he states in his final sentence that this bill will “Help prevent more Americans from losing their lives to smoking”, thus leaving the reader encouraged by the work of the Senate even though this bill will only reduce youth smoking by 11 percent over the next decade and adult smoking by 2 percent.