Cigarettes smoking is a classy way to kill yourself means to commit suicide. Smoking leaves unseen scars and fills the body with toxins and tar. Mesoamerican and South American natives discovered tobacco which then used in cigarettes, and then spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world.
In the beginning tobacco smoking was just a hobby for bourgeois but soon it became a habit of many. It has been around us for centuries but still the health effects are newer. Since 1950s, health expertise linked smoking to lungs cancer but with proceeding research we came to know more deadly effects of tobacco.
In developed countries, cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of diseases and mortality. Thoroughly 480,000 people die every year because of cigarette smoking. Smokers smoke cigarettes on regular basis to keep nicotine levels stable in the brain, mostly to avoid the adverse effects of nicotine withdrawal, but also to regulate moods. Regular smokers have higher stress and arousal levels than nonsmokers, as well as higher impulsivity and neuroticism values than nonsmokers.
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Cigarette not only contain nicotine but more than 5000 chemicals which has proven carcinogenic for human organs. These chemicals when react in our body create problems like by increasing blood pressure increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, lower heart oxygen level due to which a person can get coronary heart diseases and diabetes, can destroy lungs function more and causes asthma, bronchitis and emphysema.
A smoker’s life is 10 years less as compared to the non-smoker. Cigarette smoking increases birth diseases and risks. The child of a smoker mother cannot survive longer during pregnancy and miscarriages happen. Similarly birth defect rates are more in children of smoker mother as compare to normal mother. Smoking become a cause of cancer of pancreas, mouth, oesophagus and gums. Tobacco smoking is predicted to be prevalent in 36 percent of males and 9 percent of females in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, smoking is prevalent among young adults, particularly university students, with the majority of smokers being males. Every day, over 1,200 children begin to smoke. According to a latest State Bank report, Pakistanis spent Rs. 250 billion on over 64 billion cigarettes. Pakistanis smoked 64.48 billion cigarettes, according to the State Bank’s Statistical Bulletin. The average cigarette price is Rs 4, rough guess, bringing the total cost of 64.48 billion cigarettes to Rs 258 billion.
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Gold Leaf, the most popular brand, costs Rs 120 for a pack of 20 cigarettes or Rs 6 each cigarette. The market’s lowest cigarette price is Rs 25 for a pack of 20 cigarettes, or Rs 1.25 a cigarette. Imported cigarettes, which can cost up to Rs 150 per pack, are also accessible in the markets. The tobacco industry is dominated by top three companies. There are a number of smuggled cigarettes that arrive at Pakistan’s Karachi port from Afghanistan.
Most children starts smoking as passive smokers. Nicotine in cigarette when react in human body, changes hormones. It releases dopamine more as compared to non-smokers. Dopamine is actually pleasure hormone which provides relief and pleasure. Nicotine plays with human brains and for a smoker to quit this habit is the world’s difficult task. There are many ways to quit smoking. First you have to prepare your mind and encourage yourself that ‘Yes, I can do it’ then get rid of all smoking related things like ashtrays and lighters.
Don’t focus on the cravings, these are temporary and will end when you don’t focus. Keep your hands busy by doodling and playing with straws or pencils or such things. When you feel urge to smoke, just hold your breath for 10 seconds and release, do this step several times it will reduce you urge to smoke. Avoid sitting in smoker’s company.
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Don’t substitute such food or some sugary products with cigarette that increase your weight, substitute smoking with some healthy food like carrots, sugar free products, cereals etc. Drink plenty of watery fluid but avoid alcohol and caffeinated beverage which urge you to smoke. Do exercise regularly. By doing these step, a person can leave this dirty habit but it works only if a smoker wants to get rid of tobacco otherwise it cannot work. There are several agencies, clinics, pharmacies which are working for this cause. Websites and apps also encourage to quit smoking by using motivated material.
Government should also take steps to make our country free from this devastated activity. They should ban cigarette, although tobacco industry is one of the top industry in Pakistan but money our government spent on tobacco industry is less as compared to the money they invested on the treatment of diseases caused by tobacco smoking.
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Government should increase taxes on cigarette and should ban their advertisements on social and electronic media. They should implement fine or challan to those who smoke in public areas and in public service vehicles.
Government should change labels from mouth cancer to some other hilarious disease and must increase the size of label up to 85 percent on cigarette packets. By strict actions may be we can make our country, a smoking free Pakistan. At the end, smoking is that dreadful habit which drains money and kills a person slowly so quit smoking starts living.
This article has been contributed by Zain ul Abideen Shah. He can be reached at @ZainUlAbidinS11 on Twitter.
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