SMOKING KILLS

India is home for about 120 million smokers in the world. Smoking although is a personal choice and one cannot be forced to quit smoking, But smoking has a lot of ill effects.

Considering the health hazard smoking causes, government has taken certain steps to try reducing the consumption of cigarettes and other products. One of such actions is the law against advertising. The Cable Television Network (Regulation) Amendment Bill, applicable since 8 September 2000, completely prohibits cigarette and alcohol advertisements.

Other steps taken were banning of cigarettes by some states and cities. Although it was successful in some cities like Chandigarh, but it could not succeed in other places like kerala.

I thought it is important to throw some light on the ill effects caused due to smoking cigarettes, so below are some of the ill effects of smoking.
1. It causes lung cancer. In fact 87% of the lung cancer deaths are caused by cigarettes.
It not just increases the risk of lung cancer but also of other cancers like mouth, nose & sinuses, lips, bladder stomach etc.
2. It increases the risk of heart disease and stroke. Study reveals that this is more prevalent in case of women. The risk depends on the number of cigarettes smoked and the time for which a woman has been smoking.
3. Smoking damages the lungs. It damages the airways and small air sacs in the lungs.
4. It results in poor blood flow in the arms and legs. This results in the reduced daily activity and open sores that won’t heal.
5. In case of women, it also affects the reproductive health. Smoking may result in complications during pregnancy and affects the health of mother and baby.

Smoking is a personal choice and nobody or no government rule can stop you from doing it. All they can do is restrict you from smoking at a particular place so as to reduce the harm that your personal choice is causing others. But it is important to understand the harm it is causing to you and to the people around you. Passive smoking is equally harmful causing respiratory problems to the people around like kids in the family.

It is important to understand the harm that it may cause and try to quit this bad habit.

There are many ways to do so, the most popular being the use of nicotine gums or nicotine strips. These gums provide some nicotine to the body and helps in reducing the withdrawal symptoms such as craving and irritation.

Mithilesh R

(MBA-ITBM 2013-15)