Monday 10 September 2012

End-game for tobacco?

When you think about it, the steps they are taking may be extreme, but so is the situation.
Tobacco is essentially the only drug which, when used as recommended by the manufacturers, causes cancer, increases your chances for heart disease exponentially,  worsens asthma, and doesn’t do wonders for your oral hygiene either! 
Its effects cost the NHS billions every year – 100,000 deaths in the UK every year are directly caused by smoking. The medical evidence for the damage it causes is irrefutable. If tobacco was a new drug, it would probably not be legal! I have to say that I was encouraged to read that Tasmania, not content with laws insisting that cigarettes must be sold in plain packages, has been discussing banning tobacco products altogether
Some will argue that this is another step in the unfair persecution of smokers, and that to do so would risk a radical shift to illicit tobacco sales.  Some would prefer that we in Scotland (which, lets not forget, was the first part of the UK to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces - which many people said would never work) should instead follow suit with Australia and move to plain packaging, or perhaps to smoke-free cars or banning smoking in more and more places (including hospital grounds and playparks). 
I think that all these ideas have merit and we should explore any and all ways that we can work to rid our air space of this toxin. But you’ve got to give the Tasmania solution - to prohibit tobacco sales to everyone born after 2000, so creating a 'smoke-free generaration' - some consideration; by allowing the continued sale of tobacco are we putting future generations at risk? Maybe it's time that we realised that this noxious, addictive weed causes so much harm that its place in a civilised society needs to be seriously questioned.

1 comment:

  1. Tobacco smoking is the leading cause of hundreds of skin and body issues worldwide. Opt for electronic cigarette instead to minimize health woes and further troubles.

    ReplyDelete

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