Why do people continue to smoke? While puffing on pipes and cigarettes has ultimately declined considerably since a study in Cologne, Germany linked smoking and cancer in 1930, 1.1 out of 6.3 billion people worldwide continue to indulge in the baleful habit..
Myriad reasons exist for the thriving tobacco trade: creative marketing, easy accessibility and the timeless existence of peer pressure among youth seeking acceptance of friends during years of teenage revolt.
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Tobacco has an interesting and sordid history. When John Rolfe planted the first crop for commercial export in 1612 in the British colony of Virginia, tobacco had already been used by Native Americans for as many as 6,000 years. Half a century earlier, Jean Nicot (1530-1600), a 29 year-old French diplomat for whom the word 'nicotine' derives, returned to his homeland from Portugal with samples for his patrons. Catherine de Medici, the Queen, instantly fell in love with the exotic and addictive substance, and a culture of smoking on the continent was born.
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As demand for tobacco increased among Europeans and European settlers in America, crop production expanded along the mid-Atlantic coast of the colonies. In order to ensure adequate supply, the Portuguese (among other European powers), who had also been introduced to tobacco in the 16th century, placed millions of innocent Africans in shackles and transported them to America farm the profitable cash crop. Many died ignominious deaths on the high seas.
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Despite being a significant cause of slavery, lung cancer and depletion of the ozone, 1 out of every 6 people currently embrace the habit, and many developing nations have witnessed a rise in tobacco use over the past few decades.
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India, the second most populous nation after China with more than a billion people, has more than 120 million smokers within its borders. Small cigarettes, called 'bidis', are abundantly available to even the lowest economic rung in society. At only 50 cents (American), a pack of 25 'bidis' is a tempting prospect to men and women in search of an inexpensive stimulant. Recently, New Delhi has issued a ban on public smoking with a fine of 200 rupees for each violation. Policing recalcitrant smokers in public, however, will be next to impossible. Hence, the Minister of Health is wisely pursuing a campaign to educate the population on the harmful effects of tobacco.
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Since the trials against the tobacco companies for suppressing the carcinogenic truth of tobacco use in the 1980s and 1990s, both the industry and smoking has seemingly recovered. Before R.J. Reynolds and Phillip Morris are allowed to lead another generation to a shortened life of heavy breathing, nations need to take action to curb the contagion with education, punitive taxes on the product and stringent regulation.
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Rather than smoking, one ought to be addicted to a life of friends, family and knowledge. If Jean Nicot were alive today, he would diplomatically agree.
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J Roquen