Someone sent me a joke on WhatsApp this afternoon …. “One in four people look down on smokers- More proof that smoking stunts your growth” It sure got me thinking about smoking, cigarettes and my mother. My mum was a smoker and she smoked well into her late seventies. In fact, when the doctors forced her to stop, her health began to deteriorate. Strange but true. At the very outset let me make this clear – I DO NOT SMOKE. No cigarettes, no cigars, no ‘bidis’ for me. Have I ever smoked in my life? – Yes- one cigarette! This happened when I went to appear for my intermediate examination in my hometown Allahabad. The examination center was in one corner of the city and a friend and I landed there quite early in the morning. Strangely, almost everyone was smoking. Whether it was style, acting cool or just out of nervousness but every second boy was puffing away and revising from his notes at the same time. My friend seemed fascinated and I have to admit so was I. We felt we were sticking out like sore thumbs so we did what any insane friends would – strolled over to the small ‘corner shop’ and casually bought two Panama cigarettes. Having seen others do it umpteen times, we borrowed a lighter and ‘lit up’. We now felt part of the gang! Cigarettes in hand, we walked away and took a puff each. He had obviously smoked occasionally before so he inhaled deeply, smiled and seemed to be in seventh heaven while I almost choked. That said, the next few puffs were not too bad and soon we had both finished smoking our cigarettes. With a certain amount of exaggerated bravado, we flicked the butts away and proceeded to the examination hall. No sooner had the question paper been handed out than I began to feel extremely giddy and quite nauseous. I was also coughing uncontrollably & I wasted a good forty-five minutes trying to ensure that my eyes remained open and my head remained on my neck. That did not augur well for me and the results were rather disastrous. That day I said to myself that I would never smoke again and it has remained ever so! Smoking kills and the statistics are rather terrifying. Did a little reading and this is what I came up with. No, rocket science but seriously frightening. Smoking leads to disease and disability and harms nearly every organ of the body- it is also the leading cause of preventable death. I guess that is a no brainer. •Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 7 million deaths per year. If the pattern of smoking all over the globe does not change, more than 8.2 million people a year will die from diseases related to tobacco use by 2030. •In 2018, $9.78 billion was spent on advertising and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco combined—more than $25 million every day, and more than $1 million every hour. If this is not pure insanity then what is! We have millions starving. About 15 % of adults smoke and approximately eight million adults die of smoking related illnesses each year •Each day, about 2200 people younger than 16 years smoke their first cigarette. Peer pressure plays a big role here and so does slick advertising, which glorifies smoking. The statutory warning, “Cigarette smoking is injurious to health “printed on all cigarette packets does little to deter smokers. Every fifth adult in the world smokes tobacco; however, there are large differences between men and women. More than one-third (35%) of men in the world smoke. Just over 6% of women do. The fact that men are more likely than women to smoke is reflected in health statistics: particularly lung cancer, for which smoking is a primary risk factor. We see that in every country in the world, men are more likely to die from lung cancer than women are. If you are a smoker – plan to give it up. The quicker – the better. YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY
