The Liability of Tobacco Makers Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Essa

The Liability of Tobacco Makers Cigarettes have an affect on almost everyone, even if a person does not smoke. A man name Charles Green was affected by cigarettes, even though he never smoked a cigarette in his life. Green is 39 years old, and he used to be a very athletic person. That is, until he began working for a company full of smokers. Green worked behind a desk in an office building where everyone around him smoked. He was shoved in a little cubicle where smoke was thick in the air from his coworkers. After a time, Charles needed medication to help control his asthma from all of the smoke in his lungs. When he began to complain about the smoke, he was told to â€Å"Live with it.† When Charles decided to sue the company and the tobacco industry, he was awarded $60,000 for worker’s compensation. Green was not the only worker to sue tobacco companies, and he will not be the last (We’re Fighting). Is it right that people are allowed to put tobacco companies at fault for illness due to smoking? Each year there are hundreds of court cases in the United States against tobacco companies just like Charles Green’s case. Long term smokers and nonsmokers like Green are suing large tobacco companies for injuries from smoking. They feel that tobacco companies should be punished for making a product that millions of people use everyday. Although studies show that smoking cigarettes may cause cancer, tobacco companies claim that there is not a direct link. If the tobacco companies start losing the court cases, the price of cigarettes will increase. This increase is designed to keep people from buying cigarettes because of the high prices (Olsson). Even though tobacco companies have only lost one case, the link between smoking c... ...ere are also warning labels on every product with tobacco in it that is sold in the United States. Although there has only been one case where a tobacco company has ended up paying a settlement, I feel that as more people get cancer, more people will find new ways to sue. Works Cited â€Å"Highlights of the Tobacco Settlement.† 26 June 1997. Facts on File: World News Digest. 30 October 2004 . Olsson, Johan. â€Å"Product Liability in the Tobacco Industry. A Contemporary Issue.† 29 April 1994. Times Square. 2 November 2004 . â€Å"Tobacco Litigation Documents.† 27 September 2004. Galen: Digital Library of UCSF. 29 October 2004 . â€Å"We’re Fighting Big Tobacco.† 2000. JEL Iowa. 30 October 2004 .