“Cigarettes are Killers that travel in packs”

I think it is very important for us, humans, to stay up to trend.  To look ‘cool’, to show others that we are no longer primitive, to ‘show off’. Smoking is one of the most common ways of achieving this. Smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned and the resulting smoke breathed in to be tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. This substance is usually Tobacco. A familiar name , no doubt.  It is a product formed from the tobacco plant by curing it’s leaves. It is hard to believe that this plant was a sincere gift given to Christopher Columbus by American Indians, I trust , the future brought upon us by this  gift could not be foreseen.

What future though?  What future lies before us if we continue on this black, tar path? In 2008, the World Health Organization  named tobacco as the world's single greatest cause of preventable death. Ironic , it is that even when we know the root cause for our calamity, we do nothing to eradicate it.  Traditionally, tobacco was thought to be a blessing from the Creator, and that it’s smokes carried prayers and thoughts  to Him. The mere thought of such an assumption is atrocious. With development in the field of medicine and technology, it was soon, established that tobacco had severe effects on the heart, liver and lungs.  It was proved that it was the cause of several cancers, that are fatal and once, were untreatable.  If you don’t stop smoking, cancer will.

Though tobacco causes many other respiratory and other kinds of diseases, it has been the most deadliest in it’s cause of cancers. 80% to 90% of cases of lung cancer are due to long term exposure to tobacco smoke. Tobacco also causes cancer in many other parts of the body such as liver, mouth pharynx, larynx, pancreas.  It is estimated that one cigarette shortens our life span by 11 minutes. Tobacco contains nicotine, the drug that makes tobacco addictive. Nicotine goes to your brain quickly and makes development slow.  Smokers have difficulty breathing because of the extreme amount of damage tobacco does to the lungs. Less oxygen and blood flow makes it difficult to do strenuous activities for long. It even affects the skin, causes early wrinkles, dryness and yellowness.

Asthmatic  patients are not permitted to smoke, since it tends to cause frequent and more serious attacks.  Excessive usage of tobacco reduces bone density, increasing risk for osteoporosis, a condition in which the bones soften and are likely to fracture. Smoking also harms our optic nerves, reducing our eye sight. Humans are called the most intelligent species, superior, above all and yet, we bow before this addiction. Why do we give ourselves to such evil?

Tobacco is consumed in many different forms, in several methods, each creative and extremely dangerous.  Beedi is a common form of tobacco in India, which consists of flavoured cigarettes, made of tobacco wrapped in tendu leaves. Chewing tobacco is also a popular culture in many parts. Hookahs were traditionally used in Persia and India, an old fashioned way of consuming tobacco using a water pipe. One extremely prevalent form is cigars,  which contains fermented tobacco.  Cigarettes are of course, the most popular form of tobacco consumption. Tobacco companies kill their best customers.

Initially, countries have encouraged growing tobacco, because of it ’s high export market rate. In India, the government had supported the growth of the tobacco industry since 1947. Chinese cigarettes are widely preferred due to their low costs, and the tobacco crop proves to be highly profitable for them. In Brazil, farmers cite tobacco production as their main economic activity. Not only does tobacco cause health issues, but it is also infamous for the being the reason for many other evil.  Tobacco is the most widely smuggled legal product. Tobacco industries were under legal action in many countries for using children to manufacture products.

However, the governments in various countries have taken specific steps in order to reduce the tobacco usage.  Several programs have been held in order to aware the general public of the ill effects of excessive tobacco consumption.  In China, the government has acted to reduce tobacco use though this industry provides enormous profits to the country. The World Health Organization has brought in several countries in order to spread awareness and reduce the tobacco consumption. Increasing tobacco prices has been one of the most useful tactics, in order to discourage people from purchasing tobacco frequently. Bhutan is the only country where tobacco sale is illegal.
In the developing world, tobacco consumption goes up by 3.4% every year. How long will it take for mankind to succumb to tobacco? Not a very long time, I suppose. What is your bet?

“Put it out, before it puts you.”