Following rising threats smoking pose to smokers and
non-smokers alike, the Lagos House of Assembly unanimously passed a private
bill for a law to prohibit smoking in designated places and vehicles in the
state. The bill, currently awaiting Governor Babatunde Fashola’s assent, has
indeed earned the support of most Lagos residents.
On January 21, the
Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Taiwo Kolawole, banged
the assembly’s gavel on the table. It was however not before all the lawmakers
in the chamber had unanimously chorused ‘ayes’ that evening. It was a
thunderous ‘ayes’ for the passage of a bill for a law to prohibit smoking in
public places across the state. Even though not less than two lawmakers in the
assembly smoke, the bill eventually sailed through.
When it
finally comes into force, it will be unlawful to smoke in the presence of a
child. Beside that, it will become illegal to smoke in more than 18 places,
which are listed in the schedule of the bill. Indeed, the essence of the bill,
according to its sponsor, Hon. Olusegun Yishawu, is not really to prohibit
smoking across the state. Rather, he argued, it was designed to protect
residents who are non smokers from the lethal effects of second-hand smoke.
Contrary to what
millions of Lagos residents may think, the bill is not just against the common
people who are addicted to smoking. A good number of bigwigs in Lagos politics
and corporate world also smokes, but mostly within the confines of luxury
apartments, corporate offices and elite clubs. The bill does not spare any
resident that smoke in public places, due to the debilitating effects of the
injurious chemicals, which its sponsor said, are contained in tobacco.
At this instance, can
the bill get the assent of Governor Babatunde Fashola? Now that the bill has
been forwarded to the governor to append his signature, what happens in the
coming weeks will determine the fate of the bill. Will Fashola withhold his
assent? Will the lawmakers override the veto of the governor should that
happen? In spite of conflicting
interests it has generated, Yishawu argued that there “is no reason for the
governor to withhold his assent,” especially when its benefits millions of residents
of the state.
Rationale for the Bill
Good reasons
prevailed in the passage of the bill, according to Yishawu. Aside from
psychological benefits, the lawmaker explained that smokers “are not deriving
anything positive from the habit.” However, he argued that the intent and
purpose of the bill was not “to outlaw smoking in Lagos State. We are not
saying smokers should stop smoking. We are only planning to regulate the manner
they smoke.”
The lawmaker cited
the overriding need “to protect the entire community of non-smoking residents
from the lethal puffed smoke of cigarettes” as the prime reason for initiating
the bill. He said the effect of second-hand smoking “constitutes the major
reason,” due to what he described as health implications it had on passive
smokers. On this note, he argued, smoking is injurious to both the smokers and
non-smokers.
Yishawu, representing Lagos Island Constituency I,
explained the scale of damage, which he said it, could cost human health. He
added that cigarette “contains about 4,000 injurious chemicals,” which
according to him, had cost a good number of residents in the state and outside
sound health, even their lives. He noted that researchers “have proved that
smoking constitutes the root causes of some terminal ailments.”
He, therefore, said
smoking cigarettes “has been linked to different kinds of cancers.” Therefore,
the lawmaker explained that the need to promote public health forms the basis
for the bill, which will become effective the moment the governor appends his
signature. Yishawu said it was the onus of the state’s legislative institution
to enact law for the good governance and safety of the populace.
Inside the Bill
Compressed into 16
substantive sections, the bill states that no person shall smoke in the places
designated and specified in its schedule. Such places include restaurants,
hotels, cinemas, concert halls, amusement arcades, stadia, conference centres,
public toilets, educational institution premises, public transportation
vehicles, public halls, exhibition halls, call centres and premises used for
religious and social purposes.
Under Section 2, the
bill classified all public facilities listed in the schedule as no-smoking
areas, which it said, shall be a duty of any person who “owns or is in charge
of the management of the premises to ensure that approved signs or the
international no-smoking symbol consisting of a pictorial representation of a
burning cigarette enclosed in a red circle with a red star across it are
conspicuously displayed…”
The bill, however,
gave the Commissioner for the Environment powers to designate more places as
‘no-smoking areas’. This simply suggests that the no-smoking areas are not
limited to those listed under the schedule of the legislation. Consequently,
Yishawu said, more public places which are not captured in the legislation can
in the future be designated ‘no-smoking areas,’ though subject to the
discretion of the environment commissioner.
But section 10(c)
mandated the Managing Director in the Lagos State Signage and Advertising
Agency to prescribe standard and no-smoking signs or symbols in places or
vehicles prohibited from smoking. The subsequent subsections advised any
person, who desires to register a complaint under the law “to initiate
enforcement with LASEPA and the provision of the legislation be given to all
applicants for a business licence in the state.”
Section 4 stipulated
that it “shall be an offence to smoke in the presence of a child who is under
the age of 18 years.” Likewise, under section 5, the bill prohibits any
resident of the state from smoking in the school business and public
conveyances or any person who owns or drives school buses or vehicles meant for
public conveyances “shall post in appropriate, clear, conspicuous and
sufficient manner ‘no-smoking’ signs.”
Aside, section 6
stipulates that it shall be an offence “to obstruct a duly authorised officer
from entering and arresting any offender when carrying out his duties under the
provisions of the law.” Section 10 desinates the Lagos State Environmental
Protection Agency (LASEPA) as the enforcement authority, though it noted that
it could collaborate with the Lagos State Taskforce on Environmental and
Special Offences (Enforcement Unit).
Risk of Imprisonment
The bill makes
provision for some penalties, which its sponsor said, every infraction will
attract, specifically at the discretion of courts of competent jurisdiction.
The bill spells out two categories of penalties for the residents who may
breach its provisions the moment it effectively comes into force. Sections 7
and 8 provide further guide on the penalties that could be meted out to
individual and corporate offenders.
Under section 7(b),
the bill stipulates that any owner of a designated place, who contrary to the
provisions of section 3, does not stop anybody smoking within his premise
“commits an offence and shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine of N100,
000.00 or to imprisonment for a term of six months or both or non-custodial
punishment,” which the bill said, was at the discretion of the judge in
competent court to determine.
But its authors
provides stiffer penalties for corporate bodies, firms or associations provided
that the provisions of the bill are breached in their premises. The bill states
that where an offence “is committed in this instance, any director, manager,
partner, company secretary or other similar officers shall be guilty of an
offence and shall be, on conviction, liable to a fine of N250, 000.00 as though
he had committed the offence himself.”
As also stipulated
under section 8, any person that smokes in the presence of a child shall be
guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of N15, 000.00
or for imprisonment to a term of one month or both. But repeated violation of
the law by any person in control of a public place, place of employment or
means of public conveyance, which was enshrined in section 7(e), may result in
the suspension or revocation of permit of the offender without an option of
fine for this category of offenders.
But the legislation
made provision for the establishment of Conservation and Ecology Account to be
operated in any indigenous bank. It expects all fines awarded to those who
might be convicted under the law or proceeds from all the penalties to be paid
into the account. The bill has a non-retaliation clause, which it said, was
designed to protect employees, applicants for employment or customers, who
choose to exercise any right entrenched in the law, report or attempt to
prosecute a violation of the law.
A habit, which at one time was considered fashionable and acceptable has been proven after many years of study and linkages with many ailments to be as deadly as the scorpion sting. Smoking is a universal problem, which though may have peculiar geographical approaches in terms of solutions, but yet remain one with universal determination in tackling. To date, no nation has ever admitted benefiting economically from smoking and hence the numerous efforts by nations in tackling this man-made monster. The United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention describes tobacco use as "the single most important preventable risk to human health in developed countries and an important cause of premature death worldwide”. To further reinforce this view, let us consider the following facts about smoking:
- About 93 million sticks of cigarette are produced yearly in the country and every one of those cigarettes is consumed here in Nigeria.
- World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that about 1.3 billion people in the world are currently smoking and most of them are in developing countries.
- Tobacco kills close to five million people yearly worldwide with over 70 percent occurring in developing countries including Nigeria. It is the cause of death of 17.7 per cent of all deaths in developed countries.
- By 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) expects the worldwide death toll from smoking to reach 10 million.
- Tobacco is responsible for over 25 diseases in man, including hypertension, heart attack, cancer and other conditions such as asthma, emphysema. It is also responsible for some pregnancy-related problems and other conditions such as tuberculosis, blindness, deafness and nutritional and psychological disorders.
- Tobacco kills 50 per cent of lifetime smokers and half of these deaths occur among people in their middle age (35-69years).
The extremely high tar content of the Nigerian tobacco was highlighted by the trio of Awotedu, Higenbottam and Onadeko in a study conducted in 1983 (J Epidemiology Community Health 1983; 37:218-20). It should be emphasised here that the dangers of smoking are directly proportional to the tar content of cigarettes. Tobacco smoke pollution has been classified as a known human carcinogen in the USA. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and affecting the health of smokers in general. Smoking also harms people of all ages. For instance, toxic ingredients in cigarette smoke travel throughout the body, causing damages in several ways. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled and it has been found in every part of the body, breast milk inclusive.
Smoking has been implicated in the following disease conditions or states:
Tooth Loss
Diabetes
Impotence
Stomach Ulcers
Ocular Histoplasmosis (Fungal Eye Infection)
Acute Necrotising Ulcerative Gingivitis (Gum Disease)
Hearing Loss
Osteoporosis
Duodenal Ulcer
Reduced Sperm Count
Dysmenorrhoea (Painful periods)
Early Menopause
Psoriasis
Colon polyps
Cataracts
Asthma
Reduced Fertility
Buerger’s Disease
Angina
Optic Neuropathy (Vision loss)
Premature wrinkling
Crohn’s Disease
This month (October 2008), Dr Julie Pasco of the University Of Australia, Melbourne published the outcome of a research that showed that smoking increases the risk of major depressive disorder by 93% in women who smoke, compared to those who do not smoke. The odds are said to more than double for those who smoke in excess of more than 20 cigarettes a day. Dr Pasco concluded: “It is becoming increasingly clear that smoking is not innocuous to mental health and may in fact aggravate mental illness or contribute to its onset”.
It is common practice for cigarette packets to carry warnings approved by health authorities but none ever lists the diseases caused by smoking. In appreciation of this significant deficiency, Reuters reported on Saturday 27 September, 2008 the efforts of the British authorities to further inform its populace on the dangers of smoking via warnings on packets. This report states as follows: “Gruesome pictures of rotting teeth and throat cancer tumours will appear on all tobacco products in Britain from next month as the government steps up its campaign to encourage the country's 10 million smokers to quit. The images will be printed on the back of cigarette packs to illustrate written health warnings introduced in 2003, the Department of Health said on Saturday. The photos also include a flaccid cigarette to depict male impotence and a comparison of healthy and tar-filled lungs”. The concerns of the British authorities are justified considering that smoking is Britain's single killer, causing the premature death each year of 87,000 people in England alone.
Eating Fruits and Vegetables May Help You Quit Smoking
The next time you have the urge to smoke, can eating fruits
and vegetables actually help cut your nicotine craving?
Well, according to new research, smokers who increase their
consumption of fruits and vegetables may have a greater chance of successfully
quitting smoking.
According to results of a new study, cigarette smokers who
ate fruits and vegetables an average of 4 or more times per day were 3 times
more likely to be tobacco free 14 months later, compared with those who ate
fruits and vegetables fewer than 2 times per day.
The study, which included 1,000 smokers who were age 25 and
older, had the study participants answer surveys about their smoking habits and
their fruit and vegetable intake. Then, they followed up with them 14 months
later and asked them if they didn’t use tobacco over the past month.
These results were reproducible and consistent even after
controlling for age, sex, race and ethnicity, education, household income, and
behavioral indicators of general health orientation. Those who ate more fruits
and vegetables also exhibited fewer measures of dependence: they were less
likely to smoke 20 or more cigarettes per day, or to smoke within 30 minutes of
waking up.
Previous data has shown that smokers tend to consume fewer
fruits and vegetables than non smokers. It turns out that research has
demonstrated that certain foods actually make the taste of cigarettes worse-
especially milk, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables– while, coffee, red
meat and alcohol make cigarettes taste better. Studies further suggest that
cravings for food and cigarettes are likely linked and often confused with one
another. So one thought is that eating a diet with higher fiber content may
actually make you feel fuller and prevent such “craving confusion” from
developing. In practical terms, however, individuals who consume more fruits
and vegetables are probably more health conscious and thus more likely to quit
smoking overall.
If you are experiencing a cigarette craving, eating
increased amounts of fruits, vegetables or drinking a glass of milk may be
potential ways to curb your urge to smoke. Various medications and counseling
may certainly have a role in aiding your success, but a nutritional approach
can be a good start.
But
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* Plant source essential fatty acids
* 20 Amino acids
* 1000mg of coral calcium
* Graviola
* Co-enzyme Q10
* Fulvic Acid
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4. Eating too much junk food
