Banning Tobacco in Baseball

Since I gave my presentation on the potential banning of Tobacco in Baseball I found this article very interesting. Lawmakers urge Chewing Tobacco Ban. When I first heard of the issue I was not sure if the discussions about the topic were serious, but this article tells me that they definitely are. However, that is not what interested me most about this article. In my presentation, the focus on banning tobacco was coming from religious groups who believe using such a substance should be considered a sin. When watching the video I wondered why there is a religious focus in this issue when the real problem is the health of our athletes.

In this article I believe lawmakers have the right approach in trying to ban tobacco from baseball. For example, they state, “These issues affect the integrity of the game, the health of your players, and most important, the health of teenagers who aspire to be like pro players.” They have taken an approach that clearly highlights the dangers of chewing tobacco. It is difficult to argue against such statements because they have been repeatedly backed up by scientific studies.

Another claim I found effective in their argument is that banning chewing tobacco will have no negative impacts on the game as a whole. Minor leaguers have successfully done so for almost twenty years. Cigarettes have also been banned for over 3 decades. To me, cigarettes and chewing tobacco are very similar substances in that if kids see their role models using them on TV they will want to use them

Ultimately, this ban will be passed because the health of our future athletes is more important than a so called “tradition” in baseball.