CHENNAI: (...continued from last week)
After learning about the prevalence of tobacco use in our country, one simple question you’d ask is: If government knows that smoking is injurious to health, then why on earth do they allow manufacturing and sales of this deadly commodity? As it is they have already banned smoking on planes as well as public places like hospitals, parks, offices, schools etc, then where is the problem to totally ban them from our country ?
The time has come for the government to bow to the people’s wishes and manufacturers will have to give up this industry and not pretend that they have the right to profession. Recently, Indian cigarette companies had decided to shut their factories from April 1 claiming ambiguity in the Government’s order to print warning images on 85% of the display area of tobacco packs. Those who are suffering from cancer say that if they were warned in more specific manner, perhaps their life could have been much better today.
This clearly shows that instead of making people aware of the dangers and harms of smoking in a specific manner, these companies conspired to cover up all these years! It seems that when more litigation cases would come before the courts, then the companies would, perhaps, under pressure of claims for compensation, give up its manufacture or, at least, print warning pictures and text on 85% of the display area. Perhaps then people would realise that smoking is not a pleasure as it is made out to be.
According to psychologists, most addicts are quite immature in nature and suffer from insecurities. A detailed research done by behaviourial scientists in America proves meditation as an effective addiction recovery technique. It was observed that those who were taught meditation had lower levels of relapse and more positive outcomes after release than those who received only conventional recovery treatments.
Hence it would not be difficult to recognise the value of meditation for stop smoking and introduce this theory and practise as a subject in school so that the youth and children can be saved from dependence on this deadly habit.