Smoking at all costs

Claude Bamutura used to smoke like a chimney and whenever confronted about it, would retort that ‘what is the point of dying with a clean pair of lungs’? Well, he died a few years ago, aged 28, with his lungs dark and battered, according to a doctor who treated him. Claude’s addiction to smoking cigarettes was legendary and his mates had nicknamed him ‘Ka-Puff’ in reference to the ashen gust of smoke that he would skillfully blow out into the space as he polluted the air around him. I was idling in the departure lounge of Abidjan’s International Airport last Saturday when I walked into a cigarette shop that invoked memories of Ka-Puff which got me appreciating the power of an addiction. This particular cigarette shop was scary, not because I am a coward but believe me you, the words written on the cigarette packs left me totally terrified and wondering if anyone ever bought such darkly branded cigars. I pulled out my Sony Xperia Smartphone and cocked its camera to take some pictures; then I noticed that I could hardly see the brand name of the cigarettes on sale. The buyers only differentiated between them based on what type of scary wordings are written on them. Here, I will share with you some of the writings, covering the packs in dark bold letters. “Smoking clogs the arteries and causes heart attacks and strokes.” “Smoking seriously harms you and others around you.” “Smoking may reduce your blood flow and causes impotence.” “Smoking Kills” “Smoking damages your sperms and reduces your fertility levels.” The threats were written on different cigarette brands yet somehow the seller expected them to be bought. As I stood in front of that organised stack of poison, a hand tapped my back and a guy, possibly aged below 30 said, ‘excusez moi monsieur.’ I was standing in the way, I gave him space and he went forward and picked one of the packs with the threatening inscription, ‘Smoking Kills.’ What did the guy think he was doing? The damn things are killers so what business did he have smoking them? I thought of confronting him like we used to do with Ka-Puff but he had already lit the stick and puffing away from the smoking area. I think the cigarette companies know that their customers are held hostage by a strong addiction from which they can’t easily escape. They know that the scary warnings on the packages aren’t strong enough to dissuade an addicted smoker. So, in spite of the ‘smoking kills’ warning, cigarette makers know that smokers will smoke at all costs; smokers know the dangers but they’ll always find an excuse to justify their habit, after all, what’s the point of dying with a clean pair of lungs? Sad isn’t it? But let’s bring this conversation home. I have dozens of close friends that smoke, some, as aggressively as my fallen mate Ka-puff and I was wondering whether adopting the scary branding of cigarette packs could help scare millions of young smokers into quitting. I don’t smoke and the closest I came to doing so was when an ex-girlfriend, a smoker, challenged me to ‘take a puff, if you love me.’ She was like; if you can kiss me, then you can surely smoke.’ My old man used to smoke so aggressively that it worried me a lot. He would blow a couple of packs in a day. Fortunately, in the past couple of years, he has almost quit, smoking once in a while when reading an especially boring book. It takes self-discipline. I know a friend or two that are currently struggling to quit smoking but all they manage is a month or so off and then they relapse mainly because the majority of their other friends smoke and aren’t planning to quit. Two days ago, I sauntered into several shops to see how cigarette packs here are branded. I found that their brand names are quite visible and the beautiful designs of their packages quite attractive and the warnings regarding the health dangers of smoking only written in small letters almost invisible. Smoking is a multi-billion dollar industry that many governments count on for huge amounts of tax revenue; so getting them to negatively brand their packages could be an uphill assignment. However the cost of smoking is so damning to not try. According to the American Centre for Disease Control (CDC), smoking causes nearly 6 million deaths annually worldwide which will surge to more than 8 million deaths by 2030. If you’re a smoker, I hope by reading this article, I have disgusted you enough to quit smoking.

Opinions

Smoking at all costs