Each year, the U.S. government passes numerous laws to protect its citizens. Yet, one perfectly legal product manages to seize over 400,000 American lives annually (American Lung Association, "American"). Despite the efforts of the U.S. government to protect its citizens, the government continues to ignore the single most preventable cause of premature deaths. The vicious culprit attributed to these deaths is the common cigarette. Death, however, is not the only transgression cigarettes are responsible for. Cigarettes pose a clear threat to the public, to the economy, and to the planet. Without a doubt, the government should ban cigarettes on account of the fact that they are harmful to the