an interesting article by Langa Saarakikya.
Source: The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Crossroads: Is tobacco use a necessary evil? - The Citizen
October 18, 2010
Langa Sarakikya
An Australian chain-smoker friend of mine said to me the other day: “Well, it’s not like I smoke a pack at the pub then go home and slap my wife around...” This was in response to the new tobacco laws in Australia.
He went on to suggest that if the government really wanted people to stop smoking, why not just ban cigarettes altogether?
Cigarettes are a thorn that I suspect governments generally do not mind having in their sides due to the huge amount cigarette companies pay in taxes.
They show concern for the lives of citizens by prohibiting tobacco advertising and make tobacco warnings compulsory. Over time, the warnings have become so graphic it astounds me that a smoker can even muster the courage to grab a pack of cigarettes with pictures of rotting lungs and teeth teetering on the brink of falling out of hideous mouths. But still, the smokers smoke.
In more and more countries, laws that prohibit smokers from indulging in public spaces are being enforced, making smoking more of a private habit that involves less and less people apart from the individual actively smoking. Smokers have been banished to designated nether regions to partake in their habit deemed unseemly and reckless. But still, the smokers smoke.
No, banning such a lucrative enterprise would be unwise. Instead, bombard people with images and information that may or may not curb the habit, and feel satisfied that some kind of public good has been served. And then keep raising taxes. Smoking is not a cheap habit, but still, the smokers smoke.
Don’t mistake me for one who condones smoking. It’s a very bad habit, it smells terrible and it makes everything that comes into contact with it also smell terrible. It has adverse health effects and it can be addictive. In a perfect world, cigarettes would be done away with and that would be the end of that. But where huge amounts of money are concerned, nothing is ever straightforward and the line between right and wrong is easily blurred and often manipulated to suit whoever is calling the shots.
The case of Australia is very interesting because great lengths are being taken to stop a habit that often seems unstoppable, with a wave of very strict tobacco laws introduced this year. Australians cannot smoke just anywhere on the beach, there are now designated areas marked by flags, and they cannot smoke near children’s playgrounds.
The banning of cigarette smoking in public spaces varies according to how different territories and states define “public space”. For example in 2008 Tasmania introduced a total indoor smoking ban, including in cars with children under the age of 18. In Victoria, smoking is permitted in non-enclosed areas. In Queensland, smoking is not allowed in any outdoor eating or drinking establishment.
Such measures are a commonsense approach to protecting other people from the effects of second-hand smoke and it is fair. Let’s not diminish the serious effects that a puff of smoke can have on asthmatics, for instance. There are also tobacco advertising laws geared towards getting smokers to stop smoking.
This includes the banning of displays of tobacco products in retail premises and rather sensational warnings that must be on every cigarette pack. One third of the front, all of the back and the sides of cigarette packs are covered with graphic images of the horrendous effects of smoking. Further, The Australian government announced in April of this year its plans to “prohibit the use of tobacco industry logos, colours, brand imagery or promotional text of tobacco product packaging from 2012, requiring that brand names and product names be displayed in a standard colour, font style and position.”
On the one hand, local governments who will have to enforce many of these new laws say their resources will be depleted. On the other hand, health specialists say that such measures are saving lives. Also, it has been reported that the prevalence of smoking has dropped significantly as a result of prohibitions and bans. Needless to say, the response from both smokers and nonsmokers has been interesting to read in various forums on the Internet, varying from asking why the same effort is not put into curbing alcohol consumption, to appreciating efforts being made to create a better environment for all.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the Tanzanian government says it will increase tobacco production from 58,702 tonnes of the previous financial year to 60,000 in the current 2010/11 year and a total of Sh340 billion has been collected as tobacco taxes in the last five years. Projections indicate that more than half of the African continent will double its tobacco use over the next 12 years.
It is no wonder then that experts predict Africa is about to undergo the highest rate in an increase in tobacco users, and the fact that 90 per cent of Africans do not have protection from second hand smoke will increase ailments and deaths related to tobacco. Perhaps a way of creating a balance between generating much needed funds and safeguarding people’s health is to use a percentage of that revenue to actually enforce existing tobacco laws in Tanzania to minimise the negative social effects of tobacco use.
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