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Tobacco – Not A Consumer Product
Tobacco addiction is one of the worst addictions, with the number of tobacco users and smokers having crossed the one billion-mark worldwide. What is a cause for concern is that smoking has been and is being marketed as a fashionable product; a product that is projected to be responsible for the death of over half a million smokers this year.
Tobacco is being promoted and projected as a consumer product. Not being aware of the harmful effects of
tobacco, the young generation is sucked into believing
that it is fashionable to smoke.
At an influential age, the
youngsters lap up every advertisement targeted at them and
take to smoking without realizing the ill effects waiting to
consume them. For that matter, you may call tobacco a
“consumer product”, because it “consumes” your health and even
your life, if you are not that lucky.
It is unbelievable that such
a harmful product that causes addiction, sickness and even
painful death, is allowed to be marketed freely. Tobacco is
among the few anti-health products that are legally allowed to
be sold as consumer products.
Such is the impact of the
bombardment of cigarette smoking advertisements that the
warning label on every cigarette pack is overlooked. It is the
‘it-can-never-happen-to-me' attitude coupled with glamour
attached to smoking, which is the undoing of most smokers.
Smoking is a serious
addiction and every addict needs help urgently to get out of
the habit. Tobacco reform laws need to be strict, in addition
to heavy imposition of taxes, which can discourage people from
getting addicted. The idea is to make the availability of
tobacco and nicotine difficult.
People may argue that despite
the ban on drugs, and their availability at prohibitive prices
drug trade continues to flourish. The counter to such
arguments is what could have been the situation today had the
consumption of drugs not been illegalized. We may have had to
confront a situation where every household had a drug addict
or two.
Imposing a sudden ban
on smoking or use of nicotine is not a very practical
solution. This will leave the addicts high and dry. The entire
process has to be a well thought out exercise.
Educational programs on
the ill effects of smoking need be developed, along with all
possible professional and emotional help to help people get
out the addiction. This is going to be a massive common
exercise involving the state, the corporate world, and of
course, the common man.
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