How your life can go up in smoke
By Marisa de Silva, Thiruni Kelegama, Ishani Ranasinghe & Vidushi Seneviratne.

A group of welldressed young girls stand at a street corner, smoking, laughing and talking with friends.

Onlookers frown. Why? Obviously, not because they are having fun, but because they are smoking. And because in our society, teenagers smoking is still looked upon as taboo.

However, let's take a reality check. No matter what walk of life, what race or religion and even what sex you belong to, smoking is and has been a growing trend amongst the youth of our country. What we also see is an increasing number of young female smokers.

How and why has this new generation of girl smokers evolved? Some may attribute it to young girls of today getting more and more freedom but the tobacco industry is also to a great extent responsible for targeting youth especially young girls through various attractive advertising gimmicks.

The public perception is that tobacco advertising has been banned but according to the Publicity Officer (Health Education), Department of Health Services, Mr. Thusitha A. Peiris Malalasekara, this is not so. "There is no such law prohibiting the advertising of tobacco over any type of media. Advertising is not done directly on electronic media, but we see most of it being done indirectly. On the other hand, tobacco is advertised on the print media."

Another ploy used by the industry is to sponsor various events targeting the youth. Beat shows, garage parties and night-clubs are some of the places where you'd find advertisements by various tobacco companies.

"Tobacco companies hire attractive young women to hang around places like tuition classes where lots of young people gather, to make smoking seem 'cool' and appealing. This is a very effective ploy to lure in their new victims," says Programme Officer, ADIC, Mrs. Kumari Welegedara.

Tobacco companies argue that their advertising is aimed at young adults, women in particular, who are already smokers, and is done generally to woo them to change brands. They also deny targeting teens. But the reality is different.

A pretty, young girl with her hair tied up in a ponytail was engulfed in a cloud of smoke as we approached her.

Any plans to quit?

"The first time I tried to quit, it lasted a week. The second time I made it through 11 days. I started smoking two years ago. It seemed so cool, made me feel accepted and one of the 'in' crowd at school. Now I really want to quit 'cos I know it's bad for my health but, it's easier said than done."

She is 16.

Many teens like her are hooked on smoking.

Ranga (16) says, "I started at a match. A group of us got together, pooled and bought a packet of cigarettes. I wanted to smoke because I thought it made me look cool! After all, top models and actors do it too."

Models and actors are paid to look glamorous and in real life, many of them do not smoke, as they know the harmful effects of smoking. Secondly, the real 'coolness' comes from inside you. It doesn't have anything to do with what you hold in your hand or put in your mouth. People are 'cool' because they are confident and self-assured. It all depends on your definition of 'cool'.

But Chrishantha (23) says, "Smoking helps you forget problems. It is stimulating and it relieves tension, depression and even boredom. I don't smoke when I am going out with a girl, but then if she breaks up with me or something, I always end up smoking."

These are actually psychological effects, because smoking cannot provide stimulation and reduce tension at the same time. Helping forget your problems won't really make them go away.

The real way to solve your problems is to deal with them directly! Instead, you can talk to a good friend or a relative to solve them. The answers to your problems do not lie in a pack of cigarettes.

Michelle (20), says that she smokes because all her friends smoke. "When I changed schools, I started hanging out with a new group of friends. Later on I found out that they smoked. And it seemed fun, and I really didn't want to be the odd one out."

This is called 'peer group' pressure. Your friends tease and make fun of you, saying that you are not 'sporting' enough. Always remember that true friends accept and like you for what you are, not for what you do. If your friends are only willing to like you if you smoke, then how can you call it friendship? Look for better friends who accept you the way you are.

Rajeev (21), says that he is aware of the consequences of smoking. But he adds that he is not worried about them, because he 'believes' that it takes a long time before anyone becomes sick.

Yet, it is true that it takes a few years for many of the diseases caused by smoking to develop. However, that also means that if you begin smoking as a teenager, you could be dying of lung cancer or a heart attack even before you reach thirty. Make full use of the life you are given and don't take it for granted.

Sarah (16), admitted that for her, "Smoking is a symbol of adulthood".

This is reinforced by advertisements from cigarette companies. The advertisers try to give the impression that maturity, social status, happiness and success are linked with smoking.

Surprisingly, many teenagers and young adults we spoke to had this to say. "We started smoking out of curiosity." But remember that saying... Curiosity killed the cat? Sooner or later, you'll have to face the consequences of smoking.

"My father smokes too! So, what's wrong with it?" says Pubudu.

Just because your parents are probably addicted to smoking and would have wanted to quit many times and were unsuccessful, doesn't mean they want you to smoke too.

Many teens also said they smoke to cover up their weaknesses or shortcomings such as failing in their studies but if you only pause to reflect, you realise there's nothing in the world that you can't do without perserving and trying hard. Don't take the easy way out. You can't gain anything by smoking and smoking also does not prove that you are successful.

Cigarette truths
Did you know that each cigarette can reduce the smoker's life span by around seven to eleven minutes?

* Nicotine in cigarettes increases the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which may cause the arteries to clog up with fatty tissue called atheroma.

* Smoking is also linked to high blood pressure or hypertension, which are related to heart attacks and strokes.

* Smoking causes an acid taste in the mouth and contributes to the development of ulcers.

* Couples who smoke are more likely to have fertility problems than couples who do not.

* Generally, smokers have 25 per cent more sick days a year than non-smokers.

* Smoking also affects your looks: smokers have thicker and rougher skin.

Passive smoking
A man asked a woman at a party "Do you want a cigarette?" To which she replied, "No thanks. I already have cancer." A good punch-line you'd say but the reality of it is not so funny.

*Roshani (60), an interior decorator, called her family doctor to complain of a nagging cough. Cough medicine didn't help, and a few weeks later he suggested a chest X-ray. The report was shocking: she had lung cancer. "I've never smoked a cigarette in my life," says Roshani. But her husband *Dinesh had smoked at least a pack and a half daily for the past 40 years that they had been married.

Asia's smokers light up more than 5.5 billion cigarettes a day, forcing millions of 'involuntary smokers' to inhale their smoke within offices, stores, factories, buses, homes and hospitals. Exhaled mainstream smoke and side-stream smoke are the two main types of smoke 'passive smokers' inhale. The first comes from the lungs of the smoker exhaling smoke and the latter and more harmful smoke wafts up from the tip of the cigarette. It is more harmful as, it, unlike main-stream smoke is not filtered through someone's lungs and generated only when the smoker releases a puff (about 10 times per cigarette) but, is produced during the entire 5-10 minutes that a cigarette is alight and many of its toxic products remain in the room for hours afterwards.

Some of the poisonous agents in side-stream smoke are carbon monoxide, the gas in automobile exhaust that some people use to commit suicide, hydrogen cyanide, the chemical used to gas criminals on death row, formaldehyde, commonly used for embalming and nicotine, a deadly insecticide. Sounds harmful enough you'd think? Unfortunately not, though.

Almost all smokers are aware of the dangers of smoking and its after effects. This is what you could call the masochistic side of human beings, where they opt to destroy themselves. This is a personal choice each individual has. However, what of the millions of involuntary smokers the world over? Is it fair of smokers to decide for them? This is where responsibility has to take precedence over free will.

Children especially are victim to passive smoking as their tissues are more susceptible to carcinogens than mature ones, says Dr. William G. Cahan, a specialist in lung cancer in the United States. He even goes to the extent of saying, "Parents who smoke in the presence of their children are committing child abuse".
*(Names have been changed)

Consider these risks
Research shows that starting to smoke while in your teens can have adverse health effects.

There are a number of diseases caused by smoking. However, some are more life-threatening than others. Cardiovascular disease due to atherosclerosis is the main cause of death due to smoking.

Atherosclerosis is the term used to describe the clogging up of the arteries with fatty material, leaving them narrow, blocked or rigid. It can take many forms depending on which blood vessels are involved, and all of them are more common in people who smoke. Coronary thrombosis is a blood clot in the arteries supplying the heart.

Smoking causes approximately 30 per cent of cases. Nine out of 10 people who require a heart bypass operation are smokers or ex-smokers. The vessels to the brain can become blocked, which may lead to collapse, stroke and paralysis. If the kidney arteries are affected, then high blood pressure or kidney failure results. Blockage to the vascular supply to the legs may lead to gangrene and amputation.

If a patient quits smoking, his chances of survival improve The risk of getting cancer is generally greater for smokers than non-smokers by a factor of 2.24. This is particularly true of lung cancer, cancer of the throat and cancer of the mouth, which hardly ever affect non-smokers.

Eighty-five per cent of all cases of lung cancer are related to smoking and a smoker is 12 times more likely to develop lung cancer. If a smoker quits, it will take approximately 15 years before his risk of getting lung cancer is the same as a non-smoker.

There are several other types of cancer that are more common amongst smokers than non-smokers. These are cancer of the oesophagus, cancer of the kidneys, cancer of the pancreas, cancer of the cervix and cancer of the bladder. It is estimated that 94.5 per cent of 20-a-day smokers have some emphysema if their lungs are examined after death and more than 90 per cent of non-smokers have little or none. Smoker's lung (COPD) typically starts when a person is 35 to 45 years of age. At that age, lung function starts to decline even in non-smokers, and in susceptible smokers, the rate of decline in lung function can be three times the usual rate.

Giving up smoking at any stage reduces the rates of decline in lung capacity and postpones disability and handicap. Anti-smoking measures are very important in preventing smoker's lung and all the other adverse effects caused by smoking.

Sources - Reader's Digests of July 1991 and February 2002.

Speak up non-smokers
Non-smokers must speak up. It's only then that progress can be made. At public places, you could politely state that smoking makes you sick or something to that effect whereas, if it's at your workplace you could either get together with your other non-smoking co-workers and approach your boss about the problem, saying that it reduces your levels of productivity. Or you could even go about it by saying that a smoke free environment would be more beneficial to the company by cutting costs on medical and insurance expenditure.

However, if you are prey to passive smoking in your own home, make your spouse or family member aware of the hazards of smoking not only to themselves but to their loved ones as well. Whichever way it's done, it must be acted on and not ignored. It's completely in your hands whether or not you want to do all in your power to live a long and healthy life with your spouse and loved ones...or not.

According to research conducted at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, by physicist James Repace, a non-smoker is more likely to get cancer from environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) rather than from any other hazardous outdoor air pollutants, including asbestos, arsenic and radioactivity combined. Non-smokers exposed to ETS convert the nicotine they inhale into a chemical called 'cotinine', easily measured through blood and urine. Such studies show that all of us breathe tobacco smoke whether we realise it or not. One study of 663 non-smokers revealed that 91% had cotinine in their urine.

This scientific proof is not going unnoticed by the tobacco industry, although they vehemently denied the harm done to non-smokers before. Therefore, they now encourage smokers to ask politely "Do you mind if I smoke?" Based on latest studies though, it may be more appropriate to ask, "Do you mind if I give you cancer?"

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