Some people think that the high taxes on cigarettes and restrictions on smoking in public are beneficial to public health. Others, however, believe that these measures limit people's freedom of choice. Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Nowadays, smoking in public is being restricted more and more. Some people seem to be endorsing

this

development, but others are of the opinion that

this

is a violation of smokers' rights. I personally believe that imposing high taxes on cigarettes and restrictions on public smoking is a good idea. Smoking has been proved to be detrimental to health. Smoking in public not only puts the health of the smoker at risk, but

also

causes harm to those around them through

second

-hand smoke.

This

means that social costs in terms of medical and insurance expenses are increased. Imposing a heavy tax is necessary to compensate for these costs and will lead to tighter restrictions on public smoking.

In addition

to

this

, if smoking is so costly many people will give up smoking altogether.

This

will ultimately lead to improved health for smokers and non-smokers alike. Some may think that taxing smokers heavily is not only unfair but

also

a violation of their

freedom

of choice. There is no doubt that

freedom

of choice should be granted to everybody. The question here is,

however

, whether it is fair to expose non-smokers to secondhand smoke just so smokers can enjoy the

freedom

to do so. In my opinion, the answer is no; just as physically hurting someone is not a right, but a crime, smokers should be held responsible for posing a potential threat to the public, if not imprisoned for it. In summary, even though levying a heavy tax on cigarettes and putting restrictions on smoking in public may constitute a violation of

freedom

of choice, it is, when weighed with the general public's right, a necessary measure that smokers should learn to live with.