Based on a research made by the National Health Research Yuan, there are about 4.5 million smokers in Taiwan, which is 19.78% of the total population, meaning that one out of every five citizens is a smoker. According to the website of the Department of Citizen Health, 47.29% of male over the age of 18 are smokers, while the percentage for female is 5.23%. The potential problems caused by the high percentage of smokers in Taiwan will eventually become a major burden on our society.

　　For adolescents between the ages of twelve and seventeen, 11.33% of the male are smokers, while 3.16% of the females are smokers. According to Paragraph 11 of Taiwan's Tobacco Control and Prevention Act, the legal smoking age is 18 years old. The prior statistics show that the actually enforcement of the law is still leaving something to be desired. The adolescents are the future pillars of our society, the ever lowering of smoking age not only adds to the cost of the society, but it would loosen up the foundation of our future. It is a trend that causes concerns about our citizens' health in the future.

　　Besides the health consideration, smoking can easily cause house fires and bodily injuries. Every year in the U.S., there are at least 900 death and 2500 injuries due to carelessness with cigarette butts. Even though there is no such statistics in Taiwan, we often hear of house fires caused by careless smokers. Therefore, it is becoming necessary to have regulations about cigarette fire hazard.

　　The main theme of the No Smoke Day in 2004 was Tobacco and Poverty, for which the WHO has made a poster named A Vicious Circle to illustrate the theme. This poster showed several interconnecting gears named tobacco, poverty, death, deception, disability, disease, and hunger. It was hinting that once we start smoking, we will be stuck in a continuous vicious cycle. This cycle not only makes the individual suffer, it also costs the nation and the society greatly.

　　The increase in tobacco product spending means reduced spending for necessities such as food and education, or even medical expenditure associated with smoking related diseases. Many children from low-income families are forced to enter the workforce early instead of obtaining higher education. These children do not have the education to advance in the work place, sealing their fates for the future.

　　One of the major causes of food shortage in the developing countries is the vanishing acreage for food crops, caused by the planting of tobacco. The tobacco manufacturers exploit cheap labors and destroy the ecological system in these developing countries in the name of making a staggering amount of profit. The tobacco companies use the uneducated people in these countries to plant tobacco for them on one hand, and make great profit off of these people on the other. It is shameful of them to build their profits upon other people's pain and suffering.