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“If the government wants to do something, why not sue the people responsible for filling every cigarette with toxins that make it so addictive and harder to quit. Essentially, they are poisoning people. If you or I so much as slipped something in our friend’s drink, and he got sick, we could get charged with a crime. This is the same thing. Poison is poison no matter how you look at it. Yes, it was my decision to start smoking, I knew the risks, but there is a reason cigarettes are more addictive today than in the past, additives. So don’t push people outside to smoke, which will probably lead to our city’s already dirty streets getting dirtier with butts. Go after the ring leaders, the tobacco companies.” - JOEY ELIAS, Freelance –Montreal Comedian and smoker on smoking law.
As a non smoker who also happens to be asthmatic, I have tried to avoided smokers as much as possible. However, this is becoming quite impossible with the growing number of smokers in the country.
The smell of cigarettes is constantly in the air and it seems almost everyone has a smoke in their hands whether they be riding a cycle or walking. Since using mobile phones while riding a vehicle is prohibited it would also make sense to prohibit people from smoking while they are driving.
There have been many occasions where a smoker on a bike would flick his cigarette while riding and the ash from the cigarette would be blown into the face of the cyclist behind him. Sometimes getting into their eyes and causing a lot of hurt. Maybe the law should go on to include cigarettes as well as this is certainly more commonly found held in people’s hands than phones.
I wonder, does the rising number of smokers mean that people are not well informed about this? But then again, you cannot buy a pack without a gazillion health warnings on it. The internet is full of information about this and anyone interested can get it at a click of a button.
However, even with all these warning and information, perhaps people just don’t want to accept the reality of the situation. Perhaps there aren’t enough awareness programs about the consequences of smoking here in the Maldives. People have just been smoking more and more and this is getting worse everyday. Maybe this is just dismissed as a harmless thing because there are so many more pressing matters like rising rates of drug abusers in the country.
To me, this is just as important. After all, this is also a form of substance abuse. In fact, nicotine is more addictive than marijuana. Why doesn’t anybody realize the need for a country wide awareness of this? An anti-tobacco day once a year just does not cut it. This is too common a problem to be marked only once a year and it does not only concern the health of the person who is smoking.
This affects everyone around them as well and this should not be taken lightly. The number of children in the Male alone who smoke has grown as I have seen children not more than thirteen years old hanging out in groups smoking, when it is clearly illegal to sell cigarettes to children. Studies show that children who smoke around the age of 11 tend to be more likely to get addicted and continue smoking throughout their lives than those who start during adulthood.
Perhaps the number of places where smokers can hang out is just too many around Male. One can even say that all outdoor restaurants are specifically built for smokers and if you are a non smoker, you should just stick to the air conditioned ones. This amazes me as I would love to hang out in an outdoor restaurant as much as the next person but this option seems unavailable to me as I would probably have an asthma attack before finishing my meal as these places can be smelt miles away. The stale smell of smoke emanates far out into the streets in front of some of these places that one needs to hold their breath while passing.
While stopping at a traffic light, vehicles fumes and dust are no longer the only thing that can bother a non smoker. The many smokers who smoke while driving will keep puffing away on their cigarettes without a concern to the many others around them. And the amount of people who just flip a burning cigarette onto the street full of pedestrians is just too common. I have been victim to a lighted cigarette thrown at me from the top of an office building once and got a slight burn on my arm from this. Some smokers are just very inconsiderate.
Some smokers actually try not to smoke around me when I tell them that it bothers me as I suffer from asthma. But some others are ignorant and do not even believe that I could actually be allergic to the smoke.
What baffles me is the amount of children that can be found in some of these smoke filled restaurants. Shouldn’t there at least be a place away from the smokers for children, as it is common knowledge that second hand smoke can actually be as dangerous, if not more, than the actual smoke.
Don’t parents mind the affects second hand smoke can do their child’s health? I for one would not want to expose my child to this slow death. But I suppose if they were to have a family outing to certain restaurants then they should tolerate it somewhat as there is no other option as all out door restaurants and almost all public places are smoking zones here in the Maldives.
A study published in June 2005 in the online journal BMC Paediatrics found that a pregnant woman’s exposure to second-hand smoke can be just as harmful to her foetus - causing permanent genetic mutations - as if the woman herself was a smoker.
A January 2005 study in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that exposure to second-hand smoke harms children’s mental development, reducing kids’ scores on math, reading and spatial skills tests.
The CDC has advised persons with heart disease to avoid indoor settings where smoking is allowed because of scientific evidence that even short-term exposure to second-hand smoke can trigger harmful cardiovascular changes that increase the risk of heart attacks.
The evidence is overwhelming that smoke-free laws protect health without harming business. Dozens of studies and hard economic data have shown that smoke-free laws do not harm sales or employment in restaurants and bars and may even have a positive impact. Some of the strongest evidence comes from New York City, where a report found that, in the year after the city’s comprehensive smoke-free law took effect March 30, 2003, business receipts for restaurants and bars increased, employment rose, the number of liquor licenses increased.
Virtually all establishments are complying with the law, and the vast majority of New Yorkers support the law. There is also growing evidence that smoke-free laws can save money. A study released in August 2005 by the Society of Actuaries found that second-hand smoke costs $10 billion a year in health care bills, lost wages and other costs.
Big countries like the US have banned smoking in public places, workplaces in many states and in some states, even clubs as well. When are Maldivians going to realize that smoking is not in fashion anymore? It is an unhealthy and costly addiction which is injurious to others as well.
Movies and the propaganda play a big part in this as most people tend to think it is cool and there is the whole younger generation who wants to fit in and learn to blow smoke in cool ways. I was shocked to learn that there is a shop in Male dedicated to smokers. Movies showing actors suavely blowing smoke does not show him later on out of breath and coughing his lungs out. This is what should be shown to make people realize the seriousness of this.
Teenagers are led to think that smoking is a cool habit and the more you smoke, the cooler you are. There isn’t enough being done against smoking here and this problem can only get worse. Maybe what we are doing already is not enough to fight such a big nationwide problem.
Maybe there should be outdoor restaurants and places for non smokers. Perhaps there should be more awareness programs providing information about this and help lines for people who would like to quit and public places where smoking is not allowed. Certainly there are just as many non smokers as there are smokers and this would be a welcome change. I know most non-smokers would frequent places like these. Why can’t there be a single public place on this tiny island where smoking is banned? Shouldn’t we non smokers get a respite from all the smoke that is blown in our face every day in traffic and every other public place that you could be in except an air condition place or in your home? Don’t I have a right to breathe clean, smoke free air? Maybe the next demonstration or protest by the protest-happy crowd should be about the fundamental right for everyone to breathe clean uncontaminated air. That is a cause well worth fighting for.
“When smoking makes a teen less attractive to the great majority of the opposite sex, as now appears to be the case, one of the long-imagined benefits for adolescent smoking is seriously undercut.” – Lloyd Johnston, researcher.
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