Cigarette Smoking
It has been medically established that cigarette smoking is injurious to health. There is an urgent need to discourage young people from taking to this habit. Given below is a letter from a young person which appeared in the ‘Young World’ section of the Hindu; discussing the problem.
Regarding your letter on the dangers of tobacco pollution (Spaced Out”, February 27), the smoking habit is one of the gravest social problems of today. Cigarettes contain 18 different poisons. Of these, the two most important are tar and nicotine. Even though people know about the bad effects of tobacco, they still use it because they are addicted to it. It gives them a temporary lift while causing great damage to their bodies. Young people take to smoking thinking that it adds to their personality. Many films show the hero smoking, many T.V. advertisements encourage the smoker. The time has come for the government to ban such propaganda. It is not enough if the statutory warning is included because this is printed in such small letters that it escapes the readers’ or viewers’ attention. In the middle of our city there is a cigarette factory which belches out tobacco smell day and night over densely populated area. No environmentalist has bothered to take up the issue so far. The government should also ban smoking in trains.
