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| AN ASHTRAY WITH A ROSE, LOGO OF THE WORLD NO TOBACCO DAY OF THE WHO |
I wonder why this day or any day related to tobacco would be important to me. Actually this is a question which most of us ie: non- smokers have in our minds.
Well, though I am a non-smoker or I don have any forms of tobacco like Cigarettes,cigars,pipes, bidis, kreteks, clove cigarettes, snus, snuff, smokeless forms like gutka, khaini, paan masala with tobacco etc, I cannot call myself a non-tobacco user since I am a passive smoker.
Now what is passive smoking?
It is also known as secondhand, involuntary or Environmental tobacco smoking. It is basically the breathing in and exposure to other people's cigarette smoke.
Environmental tobacco smoke is one of the biggest sources of indoor air pollution. As well as making your home or your workplace smell bad, it also, more importantly can lead to lung cancer and heart disease in smokers and in non-smokers. Non-smokers who are exposed to breathing in tobacco smoke at home have a 25% higher risk of developing lung cancer or heart disease. If this is added to exposure in the workplace and public places, the risk goes up to as high as 60%. Now, if this stats is to be believed, sub-consciously this makes me think about tobacco and importance of world non tobacco day to a non-smoker or a non-tobacco user like me. It makes me wonder, "Why should I be the victim of somebody's pleasure?"
Interestingly when I ask the smokers I know to quit smoking, I almost end up getting similar response "I am trying". Well, there are very few smokers who actually tell me they love smoking. But 90% of the time I hear smokers wanting to quit smoking and they are trying hard to do the same. This makes me appreciate the 10% who atleast accept that they love smoking or they cannot quit smoking. I agree with the fact that any addiction to quit, requires a lot of will power and determination, but it is not an impossible task. So the 90% who are trying to quit smoking have more will power and determination to smoke rather than to quit.This is the nature of addiction they have for smoking.
Mark Twain once said "Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I
know because I've done it thousands of times".
So I can only sympathize and empathize the 90% of smokers who want to quit smoking and I pity them for the lack of sheer will-power in them.
To all the 90% smokers, its better to be in the 10% rather than faking about quitting this addiction. If you really have the will to quit, you are already 50% out of this addiction,you just need to resist your temptation further to make it 100%.
Someday I hope to find atleast 90% of the world population as non-smokers :).
Cheers!
