M

inutes before I walked into a train station recently, I held my breath knowing that clouds of smoke would be wafting in the air finding innocent prey. The strong odor of tobacco smoke immediately assaulted my nostrils, forcing me to gasp for every bit of fresh air, but, unfortunately, that was non-existent. My misfortune was that on World No Tobacco Day, I was knocked out by secondhand smoke. Thank you for smoking, indeed!

Despite the fact that smoking in public areas and offices is prohibited, whiffs of foul smoke always seem to keep following me around. Thick, spiraling cigarette smoke still ruthlessly invades the airspace of most public places; whether in restaurants, cafés, buses, malls, terminals, on the street or at work.

Inconsiderate and irresponsible smokers seem more than happy to litter these public spaces just to feed their urge for the addictive substance. This is totally annoying, irritating and infuriating.

I feel as though I'€™m being strangled every day, constantly exposed to the hazardous substance.

It'€™s really frustrating. I feel as helpless as a dying fish craving desperately for water. The regulation banning smoking in public places is not effectively enforced. It is like a toothless tiger roaming the streets.

Aside from that, research has confirmed the grave hazards of passive smoking, environmental tobacco smoke or secondhand smoke '€” call it what you will. Therefore, we know there are umpteen reasons why we should not smoke.

Sadly, the statistics show another story. They show that smoking prevalence in Indonesia has steadily risen over the years. Indonesian men rank as the world'€™s top smokers, with two out of three lighting up. And about 3 percent of women in the country also smoke.

Thanks to the spin doctors in the tobacco industry, they have managed to ensure the industry'€™s survival through ads and popular campaigns. Over the years, they have managed to portray smoking as super cool, modern and fashionable. Billboard and television advertising of tobacco in this nation remains widespread, as is big tobacco'€™s sponsorship of sporting and music events.

To make matters worse, taxation on cigarettes is extremely low '€” especially compared to other countries. As a result, the price of cigarettes is still affordable.

This is not to say that I condemn cigarette smokers. As a matter of fact, I have some friends who are themselves heavy smokers. I respect their choice as I believe they already know the consequences of smoking: lung cancer, stained teeth, foul breath, smelling like an astray and burning too much money.

Luckily, they always take care to ensure that they don'€™t offend non-smokers. They are respectful in exercising their right to inhale these toxic fumes.

What I do detest, however, are inconsiderate and unethical smokers who impose their addiction on others. If these people must indulge in smoking, they should do it in designated indoor and outdoor areas where it will not annoy and/or sicken others.

I understand that some people feel the need to smoke after they finish eating, but be respectful of non-smokers.

Freedom doesn'€™t mean destruction. Your rights should not prevent others from exercising theirs. If you want to die sooner, don'€™t drag anyone else along. It'€™s as simple as that. After all, it'€™s not going to kill you to show some courtesy and respect, making a point not to smoke near non-smokers, for example.

So, once again, thank you for smoking!

Herlina
Jakarta