Should Smoking be banned?

Thank you for this blog. I believe tobacco companies are one of the largest contributors to the political campaigning of major parties. They have one of the largest budgets in the world for advertisement. The governments ask them to put tag lines like "smoking is injurious to health" in the cartons as well as individual packs but does it really mean anything? What about people who are passively inhaling the smoke just because a few would like to relish smoking.

In the United States, most of the hospitals are suing the manufacturers of cigarettes because they ended up treating medicare patients for years who were suffering from cancer caused by smoking for years.

I would suggest the following immediate steps by the government, even if they are not able to ban smoking:

1) No more advertisement and publicity for cigarettes

2) Manufacturers of cigarettes are supposed to set aside a 50% of their profits as redemption fund for curing the people from cancer caused by smoking

3) Tax on cigarettes should be increased by 100% so that consumers would think twice before buying cigarettes

4) Distributors of cigarettes are also jointly made responsible for problems caused by smoking

5) Insurance companies instead of increasing premium for smokers should exclude cancer as a rider for smokers so that they need to pay for their own treatment

After all that who would have an incentive to manufacture, distribute and smoke?

Viswa

 

Very apt blog to the present day society Innerbliss.

Even the Government banned smoking in public areas, who are following it?? I didn't find any difference before & after the ban. It's just another rule made in the books. That's it.

And coming to the point of Banning / Stopping Tobacco manufacturing, I wonder will that ever be possible?? Rules are being made for the proper functioning of the society but the implementation & following them defintely depends on individuals.

Every adult whoever is smoking, knows the ill effects of it and some would have even witnessed the trauma of the chronic illness creates, but who is listening to all those??
Now it has became a part of stylish attitude in people.

Just to quote one of my experience, given a chance one of my colleague smokes all the time day / night. Once I have asked him, Dont you fear that you will be effected with some or other chronical illness. For that he said some stupid logic and I found that it's better to keep my mouth shut.

Ofcourse, I agree the governments should take some stringent measures to stop the addiction / bad habits which creates millions of patients but will they ever do it?? And even suppose some governments creates a such a rule, I doubt some or other will start a movement for Freedom of Living or some thing like that. (Like the bollywood actor who intiated a PIL against the Maharashtra Government's new legislation of banning alocholic products till the age of 25.)

 

Thanks for touching an important topic dear.

From long time i was worried.......even if we don't smoke....we are Passive smokers and we are bound to get affected.

They have banned in blah blah........but i haven't seen the rule being followed strictly. The officials don't even bother to punish those who break rules.

Let us wait............

 

It's a good and useful Blog!!The chain smokers they doesn't bother about their health and unnecessary they give problem to their near and dear ones!In our work place we do have some chain smokers.In every half an hour, they used to go outside for smoking.Without having smoke they can't concentrate on their work.Some times they become more aggressive, and getting irritated,for nothing.Really some people are suffering because of smoking and they donot know, how to stop that bad habbits and they are spoilling their life. So the Government should take some serious step and the they should definitely ban smoking and save the valuable lives of millions of people!!Thanks..

 

Definitely it has to be banned!! But I dont think that to be easy in a country where govt opens bar and provides cheaper stuffs.

 

Inner Bliss,

Very much a thought provoking blog and much needed one for the hour. Written shortly & very much strictly to the issue of smoking.

Going by what's written "The journey of thousand miles starts from first step", lets hope if we could have get implemented any of five suggestion (which are the nearest possibility to reality, yet light years away) mentioned by Mr. Vishwa.