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Stamp out the cigarette

EVERY GOOD DEED has its detractors. So too, the move to discourage smoking. The Government's laws banning the habit in public places and advertisements of tobacco products should be welcomed in a country where human life enjoys little respect, and where public health is hardly given the priority it deserves. But ironically, such desirable steps are being criticised. The tobacco industry, with its record of worldwide push that led to a steep rise in consumption among a people who were even made to feel that smoking was harmless, now laments the fall in business. This has been significant during the past few years. In 1997-98, 104 billion cigarette sticks were sold in India. In 2001-2002, the figure dropped to about 87 billion. Obviously, those eking out a living by selling tobacco or its products have been hit. But, it has been suggested, time and again, that farmers be encouraged to switch over to other crops. If this has not happened with the speed with which it ought to have, it is clearly a case of half-hearted attempts by the administration to create a tobacco-free and healthy society. The root cause needs to be addressed quickly.

However, at the other end of the spectrum, the picture appears brighter. The ills of smoking and chewing tobacco are now much better known than what they were a few years ago. Indians, as also others, have begun to understand the immense dangers: cancer and cardiovascular diseases are but only two. Insomnia and poor appetite may be the lesser consequences, but they can lead to major problems over a period of time. Still worse, passive smoking is as terrible, and it has taken a very long time to convince men and women that their addiction injures those around them, children in particular. It took longer for Governments to believe this, and they took years to ban public smoking. Surprisingly, even some highly developed nations, such as Japan, do not stop people from puffing on roads, in restaurants and so on. India's Judiciary and Legislature have become alive to this evil, though, as is the case in other spheres, the Executive has been found wanting. Admittedly, it is no mean task to keep an eye on a population as large as India's, but there is certainly no excuse for letting people pollute confined spaces such as airports and cinema lounges.

Besides greater executive vigilance, what is imperative today is to prevent the young from taking up smoking. Cinema, schools and colleges can play an important role. Humphrey Bogart, who virtually created an aura of romance around the rings he blew, died of cancer, and along with him hundreds of his fans, possibly of the same disease. Yet, our screen heroes continue to hold the poison between their lips. Rajnikanth does that in his latest "Baba", and although he reforms in the end, the images that one tends to take back home are not exactly happy. Cigarette smoking still holds a strange fascination among the youth, who see it as a symbol of courage and confidence. Some others view it as a sign of intellectualism. These misconceptions should be nipped in the bud: schools must try and stop their students from being slaves to the stick. In fact, most smokers begin puffing early in life, and find it hard to stop later. Steep costs of cigarettes and bans work only to an extent: a case in point is the incidence of smoking in aircraft toilets or airport terminals that reveals the degree of desperation. In the final analysis, a tobacco-free world is possible only if all the players are willing to work towards its establishment. One weak link or break in the chain is likely to cause denser smoke, greater discomfort and a lot more fatalities than what we see now.

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