By Kings Ndubuisi Onwe
“The Federal Ministry of Health warned that smokers are liable to die young”. That is a popular tag carried by every cigarette pack sold in Nigeria. Many Nigerians are familiar with this caveat, but most appear not to care about it or remain nonchalant.
It is Stephen King who quipped: “Get busy living or get busy dying”. But the critical question we should ask ourselves in line with the above quote is: are we busy ‘living’ or actually being busy ‘dyeing’? It sounds funny, but as a concerned individual, you actually have no choice! Being responsible for our own predicament is what some people will not accept responsibility for. However, the truth remains that our way of living can actually kill us if care is not taken.
According to history, smoking dates back to as early as 5, 000 B.C in the Americas, in Shamanistic rituals. The consumption, cultivation, and trading of tobacco quickly spread with the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th Century. Mass production expanded the scope of consumption, which grew until the scientific controversies of the 1960s and condemnation in the 1980s. More widespread cigarette usage as well as increased life expectancy during the 1920s made adverse health effects more noticeable. In 1929, Fritz Lickint of Dresden, Germany, published formal statistical evidence of a lung cancer-tobacco link, which subsequently led a strong anti-smoking movement in Nazi Germany. The subject remained largely a taboo until 1954 with the British doctors study, and in 1964 United States Surgeons General report. Tobacco became stigmatized.
Sadly enough, many people don’t see anything wrong with this lifestyle. It is a very common thing in our society and the world over, and it has come to stay. According to available statistics, the number of smokers worldwide has increased to 1.1 billion in 2019, with tobacco smoking causing 7.7 million deaths, including one in five deaths in males worldwide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Tobacco kills more than eight million people each year, a staggering figure! Smoking originated from Europe and had since spread to many countries and continents of the world. So, it is not a new thing, it is a culture, a way of living. People smoke in bars, on the streets, in hotels, at clubs, at home, in the office, in fact, anywhere smoking is not prohibited! It is a familiar sight everyday. This writeup was started by quoting that famous popular warning by the Ministry of Health on cigarette packs. But how many smokers believed and knew they could die young? No matter how old one is, except you have gift of longevity, one is unconsciously and foolishly shortening his lifespan by indulging in smoking and abuse of drugs of any kind. Most will even tag such warning as ‘Made for the young’. However, smoking doesn’t respect age nor gender. Health practitioners and parastatals always drum it: “Smoking is dangerous to health”. Unfortunately, many have already got addicted to one drug or another, and find themselves battling with life-threatening and destructive addiction. Most don’t believe that cigarette smoking, as popular as it is, is dangerous to their health, and can affect their mental well-being too. So, they develop a misconception about tobacco/cigarette smoking. Anything that is certified and proven to be dangerous to healthy living, no matter how widely accepted it is, is a ‘silent killer’.
Drugs have sent many people to their untimely death. It has shattered many individuals, destroyed homes, marriages, and made life miserable for some. There are already many drugs in the world today. Name them: cocaine, heroine, morphine, methadone, cannabis, tramadol, and the recently trending one in Nigeria Mkpurummiri (medically known as Methamphetamine) or by its street name Crystal meth. Taking drugs or abusing one is a sure road to self destruction. You can accuse me of moralizing, but the reality on ground concerning damage wrought by drug abuse is there for all to see. The warnings by health ministries are not noise making neither are they statements to be taken for granted. They are borne out of wisdom, medically and scientifically inspired, as well as life saving. Therefore, it is indeed shocking to discover that what killed one is actually on the person›s hand. What about the many mentally deraigned people whom drugs may have destabilized their brains? It is a recurring phenomenon for drug addiction.
The dangers of smoking goes, it causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Smoking also increases the risk for tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, and problems of the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis. Therefore, are we busy ‹living› or busy ‹dyeing› according to Stephen King? Your lifestyle should tell you. It is better to live than to die. Forget about what the society says and accept. Save your life, save your future, it is very important. Your family needs you, the society needs you, and you need yourself too to reach the heights you are destined to reach.
• Kings Ndubuisi Onwe writes from Enugu