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Smoking Prevention – The Need and Significance |
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Smoking has been identified as a health hazard for quite some time now. In spite of the well recognized and documented ill effects of smoking, an increasing percentage of the world’s population is picking up this deadly habit.
Nicotine as a drug is becoming a major addiction problem with an increasingly large number of people in their teens and pre-teens.
Cigarettes Companies have found very lucrative advertisement mediums in movies and television. These mediums show advertisements showcasing and glamorizing young and attractive men and women inhaling the killer weed and giving it that added “cool” factor.
Almost every government has around the globe has shouted itself hoarse hoping to convince its citizens of the dangers of smoking. Extensive public service oriented propaganda has done little to cut down the cult following that tobacco has.
How should we prevent people from smoking and endangering lives of passive smokers. There are a number of organizations and health foundations which have begun the process of rehabilitating smokers.
Tobacco Marketing Censorship
Though several cigarette companies print the warning that “smoking is injurious to health” on cigarette packs, the glossy star studded advertisements often make viewers oblivious and young impressionable teenagers take to smoking.
Federal regulations in the US have been implemented to control tobacco advertisements targeted at youth. This particular step has also been taken by a number of other countries.
Effective Anti Smoking Education
“Anti” tobacco education has been integrated into smoking rehabilitation programs. The main stress is on smoking not being personally or socially desirable. The education program also dispels any myths that tobacco is in any way useful or functional in r stress reduction or weight maintenance.
These programs emphasize that smoking in fact is becoming increasingly unacceptable in public places.
The second point emphasizes the fact that smokers have no free will and will be used to demonstrate to the youth specifically how tobacco addiction takes away free will.
Anti Smoking, Programs, Policies and Practices
Anti smoking policies are being passed in a lot of public places. Schools are turning their premises into smoke free zones and also preventing any sale of tobacco products within the vicinity. Colleges are inducting anti tobacco messages in several courses with the help of dedicated staff pre-trained in anti-smoking education.
In communities, anti tobacco programs are being incorporated in clinics. Support for rehabilitation of smokers is being increased and programs for awareness of tobacco hazards are also being organized for all age groups.
With all of these steps to prevent smoking and make life healthy and happy, the last place that we have to make a positive change is in our own homes
The home needs to be smoke freed to ensure the safety and security of our family and environment. As, they say, home is the safest place on earth. So let us put this idiom into practice and make it a reality.
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