YESTERDAY marked a very important day for non-smokers and all health-conscious human beings. It was World No Tobacco Day.
To totally eradicate smoking, more needs to be done than mere sloganeering and publicity. Smokers need strong will power to overcome something they have been doing for years.
On the other hand, the government needs to play a pivotal role to ensure that smokers can quit the habit. Maybe banning smoking throughout the country, like what one country has done, can help. The cooperation of everyone to ensure we live in a healthy environment is needed.
As long as tobacco companies are given the mandate to have the upper hand and allowed to continue to operate, success will not come easy. If the names of tobacco companies are not allowed to be seen or heard over the mass media, it may help to ensure some degree of success.
The government has been carrying out campaign after campaign, yet smoking continues to flourish. What's worse is, more and more youngsters have taken to this bad habit.
We can see teachers smoking in schools and people smoking in hospitals. This menace is blatantly disregarded and treated as a joke by the public. Who is to enforce the rules on such offenders? Do we have the will to take action against the culprits?
The government may impose heavy taxes on tobacco but that's not going to deter smokers. The setback is temporary and it's just a matter of time before smokers go back to their die-hard habit.
Perhaps we need to treat tobacco just like we treat other drugs like opium and morphine.
Jeremiah Tan, Kuala Krai, Kelantan
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