Daily Times

Sir: The number of people who smoke is increasing day by day in Pakistan. Young people have turned smoking into a kind of deadly fashion. The rise in smoking is not limited to any class or gender. Even students at posh colleges and universities smoke because they see their elders and teachers smoking. It’s the ritual of taking out a cigarette from the packet, lighting it and then taking a puff which enthralls young people and compels them to try it for themselves. It seems that people need a reminder that tobacco is highly addictive, causing severe withdrawal symptoms when one is not able to smoke. Furthermore, it causes various diseases like heart problems, lung cancer, mouth cancer, emphysema and bronchitis. On top of that, the smoker does not risk his health alone, but that of everyone around him. This is the affect of passive smoking, which is breathing tobacco smoke which is present in the air around you.

To be a smoker is to have an awful disease, since it reduces your stamina and working capacity. The government seems least concerned, as they have never taken any serious steps to reduce the increasing sales of cigarettes. I would like to make a request of Pakistan’s youth; please stop smoking for your own sakes. I would also like to ask the government to take serious action against smoking as soon as possible.

ZOBIA SIDDIQUI

Karachi

Published in Daily Times, November 3^rd 2017.