How to prevent smoking

Reasons of smoking and how to prevent it

Smoking is one of the most injurious habits. Nowadays smoking is common all over the world. This habit has been found to spread among people of all ages over the decades.

Smoking can cause serious health hazards. Tobacco has injurious substances including nicotine. When somebody smokes, nicotine enters into his lungs and gets mixed with his blood. Then it spreads throughout the whole body through blood circulation. Smoking of cigarettes can cause serious harm to ones lungs and larynx. It is the main cause of lung cancer. It also causes diseases like asthma, bronchitis, gastric, ulcer, and heart disease. Smoking can harm not only the person smoking cigarettes, but also people around him. Smoke released by a smoker is inhaled by people in close proximity. It is called passive smoking. Passive smoking is no less harmful than active smoking and all the dangers of smoke are also associated with passive smoking.

There are some intoxicating materials like nicotine in tobacco. They cause addiction. People get attracted to tobacco smoking indifferent ways. First of all, advertisements by tobacco companies attract people to tobacco smoking. Secondly, smoking by actors and actresses in movies, dramas and TV programmes also attracts people to smoking. They consider smoking as a matter of smartness. Thirdly, youths and youngsters smoke being influenced by evil company. Usually it starts out of curiosity and then becomes a lasting habit. Lastly, children are also influenced by their smoker parents. They form acceptance to smoking in their mind and do not consider it as something harmful.

Smoking has been accepted as a harmful habit by governments worldwide. Many preventive measures have been undertaken in this respect by the countries all over the world. Such measures include:

1.       Banning cigarette smoking in public spaces like bus stations, railway stations, subway stations, market places, museums, zoos auditoriums etc. and on public transports such as buses, trains, launches, steamers, ships etc.

2.       Restricting buying and selling of cigarettes publicly. Also banning sale of cigarettes to minors.

3.       In Bangladesh the government has enacted laws banning advertisement of cigarettes, buying and selling cigarettes publicly and smoking cigarettes in public places. The government has also imposed fines and penalties for the violation of these laws.

4.       The government has also passed laws requiring cigarette companies to print warning signs on the packets of cigarettes.

What else needed are a greater degree of awareness among people and a strong will to stop smoking? Besides, censorship should be imposed on TV programmes, dramas and movies having scenes of smoking.

There is no doubt that the habit of smoking can cause great harm to a person. It is harmful not only to him but also for his family and people around him. So, everybody should try seriously to avoid smoking.