I was in a bar the other day watching football on the TV. Then, a chap came in and pulled out a cigarette. Within a few minutes, he spoilt the air with cigarette smoke. So, I stood up and asked for the manager of the establishment.

I told her to please politely ask the smoker to step outside and finish his cigarette, so the rest of us could have fresh air to breathe! To my surprise, she declined and said she could not ask a customer to leave.

Then I said, “Just ask him to step outside, finish his cigarette and then return, no problem.” She refused to do that also.

The funny thing is that she and her staff are passively smoking all the time – even if unknown to them. They cannot leave and are subject to the ill effects of cigarette smoke perhaps even more than the individual smoker. Just how stupid that is! I felt sorry for her and wished I could drill some common sense into her thick skull. I could leave and take my business elsewhere; so my friends and I left the establishment instead.

Smoking in the home

We need to tell all sensible people about the statistics on passive smoking. The first global study into the effects of passive smoking has estimated it causes 600,000 deaths every year. The study was conducted under the auspices of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2010.

One-third of those killed are children, often exposed to smoke at home, the WHO suggested. The study, conducted in 192 countries, concluded that passive smoking is particularly dangerous for children, who are said to be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome, pneumonia and asthma.

The risk in children increases significantly with higher amount of passive smoking, even if the mother doesn’t smoke, thus not restricting risk to prenatal exposure during pregnancy. Recent studies comparing women exposed to environmental tobacco smoke and non-exposed women, demonstrate that women exposed while pregnant have higher risks of delivering a child with congenital abnormalities, smaller heads and low birth weight.

The research also revealed that passive smoking had a large impact on women, killing about 281,000 worldwide. This is due to the fact that in many parts of the world, the study suggests, women are at least 50 per cent more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke than men.

Passive smoking has been linked to heart disease, respiratory illness and lung cancer. Renal cell carcinoma is also increased in ordinary people with combined home/work exposure to passive smoking. Are you kissing and sleeping with a smoker?

Smoking in public places

Smoking in public places is now banned in many countries. Smoking is banned inside all airports, government offices, health clinics and workplaces in Australia. Restaurants and shopping centres in most states and territories are also smoke-free zones.

The sale of tobacco products has been banned throughout the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. It is believed to be the first country to have done this. The authorities in Cuba are seeking to curb damage to people’s health and help bring about a change in public attitudes. The Cuban leader Fidel Castro – a cigar aficionado in the early days of his left-wing revolution – kicked the habit in 1986 for health reasons.

The Federal Ministry of Health must prohibit smoking in public places. Our hotels, bars, restaurants, government offices and other public places should be ‘No Smoking’ zones. Enact the law and let it be enforced by public opinion and by members of the public.

If I had the right to ask the smoker to please go out, then I would, supported by the manager. It’s that simple. Preventing a few people from killing us all should be uncomplicated. It should make sense, especially in a country where poverty is rife and access to good medical care is not even a lottery.

Ashes to ashes

Smoking kills and that’s a fact. Tobacco use kills more than five million people every year – more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined (WHO). If current trends continue, tobacco use could kill more than eight million people per year by 2030, and up to one billion people in total in the 21st century.

Smokers also pay with their health. The results from a 50-year study shows that half to two thirds of all lifelong cigarette smokers will be eventually killed by their habit. In the UK, a quarter of smokers die between ages of 35 and 69. Death is usually due to one of the three major diseases caused by smoking: lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease and coronary heart disease. Others are strokes, throat and bowel cancer.

A study commissioned by the US tobacco company Philip Morris examined the economic impact of smoking on the Czech Republic. It concluded that tobacco smoking provided a net benefit to the economy, largely because of “reduced health care costs” and “savings on pensions and housing costs for the elderly” that would not have to be paid since smokers die early.

Hell must be a great place to smoke

Smoking is addictive and smokers are always looking for other people to infect with the disease. If possible, smokers should be imprisoned for corrupting children and adults alike. Establishments wanting to allow smoking should have designated, closed-off sections, with specially-designed ventilation, where no food or drink can be served. Just for smokers alone!

Sadly, second-hand smoke can spread from a smoking area to a non-smoking area, even if the doors between the two areas are closed and even if ventilation is provided. Only 100 per cent smoke-free environments provide effective protection. Therefore, the best we can hope for right now is that smokers should proceed to hell.

Smoking is free in hell and hell must be a great place to smoke.

http://www.punchng.com/healthwise/hell-must-be-a-great-place-to-smoke/

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